Harry Potter and the Order of Yeshua
by duskglow
Summary: COMPLETE. Picks up where the first book left off. The world slowly begins to change as Harry learns not to be a rampaging dragon, Hermione learns that books and logic are not everything, and nonmagical science and wizard studies finally begin to integrate. Super!Very Light!Harry but constrained, OCs that aren't OCs, and hopefully a very interesting journey continues.
1. Chapter 1

**Harry Potter and the Order of Yeshua**

A/N: before we get started, a few things.

Firstly, I have decided to have this story begin right after the other ends. I was going to skip time seven years, but that's not what my muse told me to do, so this is what you're getting. I had considered making this just an extension of the other story, but I'd already completed it and promised a sequel, so it starts here.

Secondly, If you haven't read "Harry Potter and the Champion of Yeshua", start there. None of this will make much sense if you don't. I've already deviated from canon so much it's not even funny. Not that any of it really is. I hope by the time I've posted this I've fixed McGonagall's name in the other story, but maybe not. Consider this an acknowledgement that I need (or needed) to.

Thirdly, I've come to a kind of peace with this series. I said throughout the last story that I wasn't comfortable with it. I kind of still am not, but I have come to accept that it is the story I want to tell. If you don't like it, tell your own. I don't care what you do. But this is my story and I'm writing it how I want to, and if you don't like it, I can't say I care all that much.

Fourthly, it really _is_ just a story. Think of it as the FanFiction version of "The Shack". It is not designed to push a particular theological idea, not to tell you what to believe, not to tell you what to think, or to tell you who Yeshua/Jesus is in any meaningful way other than how I know him. If you don't like how I portray him, see above. I don't care and it's no skin off my back. I'm not writing this story to save people. I just want to tell a story. Just as with "The Shack," whose author I have met and corresponded with personally, some may brand it as heresy. I just consider that proof that it hit where it should, as I do with "The Shack", and just move on with it.

I'm writing it because I want to, or more accurately, need to. And that's really the only reason.

And lastly, this is one of those stories where the outcome is guaranteed. You know how it will turn out. There is no real antagonist in this story. For this story, the fun is in the journey and it was always intended that way. It is not a pitfall or a trap, it was entirely intentional, in the sense that the protagonists I chose could not have made it any other way. If you don't like stories like that, you won't like this one or its predecessor.

Okay. On with the story.

**Defense Against the Dark Arts Classroom**

The Gryffindors and Slytherins filed their way in and sat down. Most of them had gained a healthy respect for their teacher, Nicholas Flamel, because not only did he treat them like people, he knew what he was talking about. When he spoke, it felt like he was revealing the secrets of the Universe. What most of the class didn't realize was that he actually was.

When it came time for class to start, he stood up and said, "wands away. You won't be needing those still."

Ron Weasley, suitably chastened by his previous beatdown, raised his hand. When Professor Flamel acknowledged his presence, he said, "Why do you keep telling us to put our wands away? Are you ever going to teach us spells?"

"Yes", the Professor responded, "I suppose I'll need to teach you spells eventually. There's a curriculum I need to follow, for now, anyway. But there's a problem with starting to use wands too early. Can anyone tell me what it is?"

The class was quiet. No one could answer his question.

"No one? You get used to a focus. If you use a focus without understanding how magic actually works with you and your focus, you're defenseless without it. That is why the ministry snapping your wand is such an effective threat. I think they've even forgotten that there's any other way."

Draco raised his hand. "Are you talking about wandless magic?"

"Of a sort," the Professor answered. "Wandless magic is treated as something that is only for the most powerful of wizards, and that you must first master wanded magic before being able to accomplish the horribly difficult and terrible practice of wandless magic. But it's the other way around! Don't you see? Wanded magic is the branch of magic off the tree of magical studies - not the other way around."

The class was absolutely quiet now. Most were enthralled.

"I explained to you in my first class a bit of the nature of magic. But there's more, much more. Free magic is always around us, in the air, in the ground, everywhere. Even though it has its own agendas, for our purposes, it's mostly useless in that state. Think of it as magical potential. It's there, waiting to be used, but there is no trigger to turn it into something useful. That's where magical creatures, of which humans are but one example, come into play. In some places there is more free magic available, by nature or by design, but it is always there.

"People teach that humans have a magical core that stores the magic you have available for your use. Hogwash! There's no such thing. The practice of using magic is simply this: taking the free magic that is around you, concentrating and reforming it, and then releasing it to do the purpose you intend it to do. So, keeping that in mind, what purpose do you think a focus such as a wand actually serves?"

"To make Ollivander money?", a Gryffindor asked cheekily. To which everyone laughed.

"That's actually a valid answer," Flamel said, "but it's not the answer I was looking for. Any serious answers?"

You could tell the room was thinking.

"Why do they call it a 'focus'", Flamel prodded.

Daphne's eyes lit up and she blurted out "Because it gives you something to focus your attention on."

Flamel clapped his hands. "Five points to Slytherin. Absolutely right. A focus on its own has no power, and a focus on its own even lacks the ability to concentrate or direct power. But what it does do is gives you something to hold that gives you something concrete to focus your magic on. For example, if I held up this wand here", he picked up his wand, "and said 'lumos', my wand would light up, and it does. That's because I trust my wand implicitly, and that trust gives me something to focus my attention on. Basically, by giving over my magic to the wand, it allows me to get away with much less understanding of how the magic actually _works_, as the wand is allowing me to do the work without actually considering that.

"But what if I don't have a focus?", he said, and pointed a finger. The tip of his finger lit up, exactly as a "lumos" would. Then his nose lit up in the same way. Then a spot two feet to his left lit up as well. "I don't need a focus because I understand how magic works. This is a hard thing to learn, and even harder because you have to unlearn your dependence on a wand, but it makes learning wanded magic so much easier once you've figured it out."

"So why use a wand, then?" piped up Draco Malfoy.

"Why do you use a fork to eat?", retorted Flamel. "You could eat perfectly fine without it, but tools can make your life easier. A wand is particularly good for fine detail work. If you were to want to carve a very small, very intricate rune cluster, it would be far easier to do so using your wand than using your finger. Less painful too, I imagine."

The class laughed.

"So today, I want you all to put your wands on your desk and not touch them. I want you to put your hands in your lap or somewhere far away from your wand. And I want all of you to quietly see if you can feel the magic flowing around you. We are in Hogwarts so it comes from the very walls, so it should not be too hard to discern it with a little concentration."

Everyone closed their eyes, and a few people started smiling as they started to feel something like an air current, but not, flowing around and even through them. It felt alive, but unconcerned about anything but going its own way.

"I see quite a few of you smiling. You can feel it, can't you?"

About three quarters of the class nodded. "Those who can't yet, just keep practicing. No one who is not a non-magical cannot feel the magic, and even some non-magicals can too with enough practice. They call it "energy" and can even learn to crudely manipulate it to a small degree, actually. For those who can now, I want you to concentrate on peeling off a small part of the magic as it passes by you. Nothing big, a small strand will do nicely. Just hold it where it is, and slowly nudge it over to a place in front of you, over your desk."

"It feels like it's looking at me!", a Slytherin said, her voice a little shaky.

"That's because it is. But that's okay. Magic usually just does its own thing, but when a creature starts to manipulate it, that gets its attention. But do you feel any malice?"

"No," she said, her voice a little calmer. "It's more curious than anything. Like it's waiting for me to tell it what I need it for."

He nodded. "You just have the attention of that little strand of magic. It's not harmful in itself, as I said before, magic itself is amoral. Now you need to let it know what you want it to do. Mentally project the image of a ball of light at it."

She did so, and then there was a small ball of light in front of her.

"It will now power itself from the magic that is flowing by, and will exist until you dismiss it. Please do so now by mentally projecting the image of it dispersing."

She concentrated a little, and the ball of light went away.

"Congratulations, you just cast _lumos_ wandlessly."

"How come you need to use the word and wand movements when using a wand, then?"

"Truth is, you really don't. The reason you're taught those is that magic already has a kind of… precompiled library of spells that people have taught it. When you use that word and wand movement, magic understands that you would like for it to take a particular action and does it. But you have to be somewhat precise with your speaking and movements for magic to not be confused by what you're asking it to do. If it's confused, it just doesn't do anything. A spellcrafter is simply someone skilled at training magic to understand a new wand movement and concept. But if you already understand how to ask magic to do what you need it to, the wand can help you to configure the magic appropriately without having to concentrate quite as hard as our student over there had to without having to use the incantation or movements.

"But, if you are not using a wand, what magic can do is only limited by your imagination, as it takes its cues from your concentration and intent. This is the secret of the most powerful wizards, who have either figured it out for themselves or found long forgotten lore that somehow found its way into their hands, and you, as first years, now know it. Thankfully for us, the most powerful wizards tend to be secretive, because they understand that if the knowledge got out about how they acquired their abilities, it would be clear that they weren't any more powerful than a first year in many cases, just much more knowledgeable and practiced. Powerful wizards tend to have an ego, do they not?"

The class giggled.

"But all this comes with a word of caution: Magic in this form is _very_ powerful. If you are not careful you could cause yourself or others a _lot_ of damage. For the moment, do not experiment with anything that has not been _explicitly sanctioned_, and never experiment without another person present. Wands are a safety mechanism in a sense - they are limited in functionality and it is nearly impossible to use wanded magic without them. Magic in this form is _dangerous_ to people who experiment without understanding _exactly_ what they are doing. But before the next class, I would suggest that you do experiment with the lumos-like configuration I showed you. See if you can make it a little brighter or dimmer, move around, change color, that kind of thing. But even then, do not be reckless. There are dangers that even a simple ball of light can cause if you are reckless. I don't want to see people in here wearing sunglasses or sunburnt, do you understand? Those who have at least one non-magical parent will, paradoxically, understand those dangers much more than purebloods will. I encourage you to seek one out so they can explain them."

Draco raised his hand.

"You don't even need to ask the question, Draco. I think I can anticipate your question. You're about to ask how a pureblood could possibly not know more about magic than a halfblood or 'muggleborn', correct?"

Draco nodded, surprised.

"Don't look so surprised. You wear your prejudices on your sleeve. Well, here's the answer. Non-magical science has approached the problem of how the Universe works in a much different way than how magical science has. We understand a great deal about how the fundamentals of how the Universe works, in some ways much more deeply than the non-magicals. But they understand far more about how the Universe that is built on the foundation of magic works, as they don't have access to much knowledge about the underlying substrate, which is magic. We never needed to pursue that knowledge, as magic takes care of much of that for us. So we know how to create light from magic, and other more spectacular things besides. Non-magicals know far, far more about how light _works_ than we do. There are certain kinds of light, to use a loose definition of the word, that are _extremely_ dangerous to humans. And it is possible to cause these kinds of light with a simple light spell if you don't know what you're doing. I'm not too concerned with you going too far afield, mostly because most of you don't even know enough about the nature of light to understand even what you would need to do to create that form of light. But it is possible, and it is dangerous, and can even be deadly. Non-magicals understand this to a frightening degree, and know enough to take precautions when necessary. There are many things you don't know, Mr. Malfoy. Take my advice and find someone who does know. I'm sure if a non-pureblood doesn't know, all they will need to do is write home and ask their parents for a non-magical science textbook. In fact, I think I may make arrangements to have the library stocked with them. And then all will be wiser. Do you understand, Mr. Malfoy?"

He nodded, looking both enraged and thoughtful, if that were possible.

"Do the rest of you understand?"

The class nodded.

"I want you to record what you want to do, how you plan to do it, and the results of the experiment. The next time, you will show me what you discovered on how to safely manipulate the ball of light and share with the rest of the class how you did it, and I will show you how to extend that knowledge to doing silent magic with a wand. Normally I would not, except that wanded magic is a skill required to pass ministry tests, for the time being, anyway.

"If you want to do other experiments, they are not explicitly discouraged, but you are required to clear them with me first. Do you understand? This is for your own safety and the safety of the school. _You_ are the restriction on how dangerous the magic is now, and I will not have people putting themselves or others in danger. And if I catch word of anyone ever _deliberately_ being reckless and endangering others, I will take action to ensure that it won't happen again. If someone gets hurt, expulsion is the _least_ of your concerns. This type of magic is, for the moment, _not to be used for pranks_. Understood?"

The class nodded again, and appeared significantly cowed.

"Oh, and one more thing. Do not attempt to share this knowledge yet with people outside of the school. It is currently a secret and at some point this will change, but the knowledge I am sharing with you, if it fell into the hands of unscrupulous people who ignore the cautions I just gave you, could cause a great deal of chaos that needs to be avoided for the present. There is much work to be done before the greater wizard world is ready for this knowledge. You are the first students in over four hundred years to be taught this knowledge, and are the leading edge in a renaissance of knowledge such as the world has never seen. But it must be introduced carefully. At some point in the future, you will see that this is but the very beginning of what will eventually be let loose upon the whole wizarding world, and I promise you, a little secrecy now will be a very small price to pay to be the future leaders of the magical world."

The class nodded, and class was over for the day.

**Defense Professor's Office, that evening**

Harry knocked on the door, and just as every other professor had reacted from time immemorial, he heard "enter" from the other side. He walked in to the office and looked around. It was very sparse, but everything that was in there appeared to have some kind of significance to Nick.

Nick chuckled. "When you get to be my age, you start to forget about what doesn't matter and concentrate on what does. I have little here, but what is here is meaningful to me. But I only brought here what I could afford to lose, because who knows?"

Harry nodded. "May I sit down?"

"Of course, of course," Nick said. "What's bothering you?"

"Was it that obvious?"

"You may be Slytherin, Harry, but you're pants at putting on airs. What's going on?"

Harry paused, as if trying to figure out what he wanted to say. "What are we unleashing on the world, Nick?"

Nick steepled his hands in a very Dumbledore-like manner. "What do you mean, Harry?"

"I mean what you have been teaching us in our defense class is _scary_. It's not because it's not dead useful - it is. And I still think that keeping all of this knowledge hidden is a very bad idea. But you're teaching us things that can't be controlled. How can we expect to stop a dark lord when there's no meaningful way of restricting his access to magic? It's like… It's like… giving everyone a superpower and expecting them to use it responsibly. By the time you can take any meaningful steps towards stopping them, half of England is gone. Or worse. We've already given all of the first years more theoretical power than almost every adult wizard - in just a few lessons. Even if we stopped the lessons now, the cat would be out of the bag, so to speak."

Nick nodded. "It's a valid concern, Harry. It's one of the reasons that Azkaban" - he raised his hand to stop Harry's impending protest - "as much of an abomination as it was, was on paper a good idea. A wizard with full access to their magic and no way to meaningfully confine or restrict their abilities is someone with power, in some ways, close to yours. You're under the control of a person who is the definition of light, so you aren't going dark anytime soon, but someone who learns the secrets that we are uncovering now could easily go dark. On paper, at least, the best way of controlling them is simply by destroying their mind to the point where they are unable to 'perform' as a dark lord, so to speak.

"I think this was the reason that the knowledge was hidden four hundred years ago, and I also think it's the reason that it's only being uncovered as Yeshua is starting to take a more active role in the world. I don't think we can be trusted to handle it responsibly on our own. The incident with the Arches proved that. That was the day we realized that we were unleashing power that we didn't know how to control, and couldn't trust people to handle responsibly.

"It wasn't just fear, Harry. Though we were very scared of what had happened, it wasn't just fear. It was the same concern that you just put so eloquently to me. We were very close to handing every wizard energies far more powerful than a Muggle hydrogen bomb - which is the most powerful weapon known at the moment to _both_ magicals and non-magicals, and then expecting them to use it responsibly. The first dark lord that appeared would have destroyed everything. We hid it while we still could.

"You see, Harry, right now the influence of a dark lord is limited. That will not be the case very shortly. So tell me, what is the only viable solution?"

Harry thought for a moment, then shrugged. "I don't know," he said, honestly.

"The only viable solution is to not have dark lords.

"You see, Harry, right now you have full magical authority over Great Britain. And you can help us to move in the right direction. But you're reactive. You can only handle things after the fact. You don't have the ability or the authority to nip an up and coming dark lord in the bud before they can cause incalculable destruction."

"... But Yeshua does."

"Exactly. This may be one of those situations where even you, Super Harry the Magnificent and Powerful," Nick said smirking, "will need to have faith in Yeshua. He's doing all of this for a reason. But ultimately, he's going to have to deal with that problem. None of us can, as much as we want to. Not even you. Maybe you can ask him next time you talk to him."

Harry frowned. "I wish there was a… better… answer."

Nick sat back in his seat. "There is never a better answer, though there may be a more satisfactory one. You need to learn faith and patience, just like every other follower of his has to at one point or other. Even if you are his Champion. You're not him."

After exchanging goodbyes, Harry left thoughtfully. Perhaps it was time for another chat with Yeshua.

**Room of Requirement, Hogwarts**

Harry sat down in a comfortable chair. "Yeshua, can we chat please?"

Yeshua faded in and sat down. "Sure, Harry. What do you need?"

Harry was pensive. "I am worried about what we're unleashing onto the world. I've been attending Nick's classes, and even if he never gave another lesson, he's already advanced magical knowledge by quite a bit. Eventually people are going to start figuring out how much power they have available to them. How are we going to stop a dark lord from destroying half the world before we can even respond? And how would we even respond?"

Yeshua sat back and conjured some water. He seemed to love water. "Ahh," he said, as he took a sip. "You know the non-magicals have come up with flavored sparkling water now.", he said, with a hint of pride in his voice. "It's very good, but plain water still seems to be the best, at just the right temperature." He took another sip. "Of all of their flavors, I like black cherry the best," he smiled.

Harry waited patiently. He had learned that much. Yeshua always got to the point eventually.

"Does it surprise you, Harry, that I have preferences?"

Harry thought. "Just a bit. I would have thought of you as entirely impartial, not liking any one thing over any other except as to whether or not you thought it was light or dark, for want of a better word."

Yeshua laughed. "So many people think that of me. Often when people think of me, they overlay their likes and dislikes on me. What they love, I love. What they hate, I hate. But that's not me they're worshipping, it's just a caricature of me. I'm very proud of the people who invented strawberry flavored sparkling water. I don't love them any less. I wouldn't judge them for it. But I prefer black cherry. I am magic, Harry, but I never stopped being a person."

Harry nodded.

"You know what would happen, though, if that got out into the public? Whole religions would start over Black Cherry being the One True Drink, and it would lead to nothing good. That, Harry, is the reason I don't tell people my preferences if they're not important. I didn't even in the Bible. The most people know about me as far as personal preferences go is that I drank wine sometimes and had friends. I told people to follow me, not _be_ me, even though in some ways that's exactly what my followers are doing. It's not a sin to prefer unimportant things that I don't. Variety makes the world go 'round."

Harry snickered at the idea of the "Cherrytarians".

"I know, I know. I'm getting to it. Harry, do you think I suddenly just started taking notice of the world when Hogwarts begged you to fix the problems of magical Britain?"

Harry lowered his eyes. He didn't want to answer that question. He knew it was the wrong answer.

"Do you think, Harry, that my making you my champion marked my first direct interference in the world for two thousand years?"

Harry was silent.

"It's okay, Harry. I know your answer. Many other people would think the same. It marks one of the relatively few times I have _bodily_ appeared, that's true, but I've taken an interest in history since its very beginning. Christians refer to my birth as the 'incarnation', and that's as good a word as any, but remember what I said about time. The incarnation had to happen at the appointed time and the appointed manner, but it had effects on all of time, even from the very beginning. So what makes you think I haven't stopped people from doing things that would have destroyed the world _already_?"

Harry was feeling very small now.

"Harry, you are an eleven year old human - or thirty-eight depending on how you look at it, but you're just a babe in either case. Nick is quite a bit older than you, but in my eyes, he is no less a babe than you. Neither of you know or understand even a drop in the bucket of what reality really is. That is why everyone is entreated - in every way possible - to _have faith_ in me. Are you familiar with the Cuban Missile Crisis?"

Harry shook his head.

"Most non-magicals don't remember anymore, and most magicals see it as insignificant. It wasn't. There are thousands of nuclear weapons on this planet, and each one of them is capable of destroying a city the size of London. That kind of war was very close to happening. If I hadn't intervened, the world would be very different now. And I almost didn't, Harry."

"Why not?"

"For the same reason that I'm using you to upend the magical world. Some things simply cannot be allowed to stand. But I chose a different way to do it.

"Your authority has limits, Harry. I was very careful about what I allowed you to do and what I did not. But I do not have those limits. Do you have any idea how many dark lords and ladies I stopped back when Nick and his cohorts were doing all of their experimentation? More than I should be able to count. Several of them tried to release energies that would have unmade _everything_, and their rituals or whatever they tried to do simply didn't work. And then I judged them for it. Many a dark lord was found mysteriously dead. People thought it was because of a failed ritual. It was not. The ritual, left to itself, would have worked. I will not allow this world to be destroyed because people cannot behave responsibly, treating the primordial energies of the Universe as a toy for their pleasure.

"As Nick said, Voldemort was a two-bit dark lord. I cared very much about what he was doing, but in the end the consequences of his actions had only local effects - and I understand that those local effects mattered very much to people like you, so I'm not minimizing them - but if he had gone too much farther in his quest for power, I would have intervened."

"Why didn't you intervene when -", Harry said, then stopped, sniffling.

"When your parents were killed", Yeshua said understandingly.

"You could have stopped it!", Harry yelled "You could have prevented it. You could have made sure I had a loving family and didn't have to stay with the Dursleys for ten years." He stood up and ran over to Yeshua, his face one of fury, and started punching him in the chest until he had no more strength, then he collapsed sobbing.

"You could have stopped it", Harry sobbed.

Yeshua was quiet. This was not the time for explanations. He simply gathered Harry up and comforted him, even though Harry continued weakly beating him up.

Finally Yeshua spoke quietly. "You're right, Harry. I could have. I could have done any number of things to prevent Voldemort's first reign of terror, and the second that occurred in the other timeline. Why didn't I?"

Harry nodded, having sobbed himself out. "Why didn't you", he accused with puffy eyes.

Yeshua sat for a moment and let the question hang in the air for a while. Finally he spoke.

"Harry, what did you do when Kamiko told you you needed to destroy Azkaban?"

Harry thought. "I asked everyone if they agreed, and then I went and did it. You did give me the authority to," he said, a little defensively.

Yeshua nodded. "I did. And I'm not saying you did a wrong thing. The place _was _an abomination and needed to be destroyed eventually. I agree with you on that. I would have spoken up if it was truly a bad idea. But when Hermione said 'be safe', what did you say to her?"

"I think I said something like 'being Yeshua's champion must be good for something.'"

"Pretty close, actually. Thank you for being honest. But there's something you didn't do. What was it?"

Harry thought. Finally he shrugged "I don't know."

Yeshua said, quietly, "You didn't ask me what I thought."

Harry's eyes popped open in realization. It had never occurred to him.

"I gave you all power and authority over magic. You knew where it came from. You knew who it came from. You even knew, to a degree, why you had it. But it never even occurred to you to ask me what I thought of it. You just went and did it. Now what would have happened if it had gone wrong? Would you have blamed me?"

Harry thought, and then lowered his head. "Maybe", he said.

"It didn't go wrong. I won't say that you were lucky - it was fairly well thought out and you did a decent job constraining the fallout. Of the two people in the ministry you invoked judgement on, they were the ones that needed it the most, by far, with the exception of, perhaps, the unspeakables. I'm not criticizing your performance - it could have gone a lot worse. It could also have gone a lot better."

"How?", Harry said. "It went pretty well as it was."

"It did, but you'll never know, because you didn't ask for my help. It was all by your own effort, backed by my authority, and you could have easily bollocksed it up. And if you did, I may not have interfered until you asked for my help, even if it had meant bad consequences for you. Now think about everyone else in the wizard world who were facing the terror of Voldemort. What do you think they did?"

"Relied on their defensive and offensive abilities and hoped for the best."

"Exactly, Harry. Some battles were won, but many were lost. But no one asked for my help. They relied on the gift of magic they were given and the idea that magic might actually assist them if they had only but to ask politely was never even considered. Just as with you."

""But how could they have known?"

"The Bible isn't just a non-magical book, Harry. It describes a magical ritual, and in it I say clearly, believe me and trust me and all things will work together for good. But very few in the magical world are even aware of it. I think it's because of your gifts that you feel like every problem is yours to solve if you just throw enough magic at it. But that is one of the reasons I'm here now. That attitude has almost caused your destruction multiple times, and the non-magicals are heading for the same situation from another direction. I _have_ to interfere now if the human race is going to survive. Free will is important, particularly where individuals are concerned. But when the entirety of humanity is in the balance… the equation tips a little. I'm not as concerned with free will then, not until that danger has been dealt with.

"If it helps any, Harry, I judged your parents very leniently. Your mother's sacrifice was unselfish and cancelled many debts. They are waiting for you in the afterlife, Harry. Never give up hope. Do what I've called you to do here, and when it is finally time for you to move on, you will find that it wasn't really goodbye after all."

Harry sniffled and walked back to his seat. He was very tired.

"Do you know what's written on your parents' gravestones, Harry?"

"No", Harry said.

"'The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death.' That's from the Bible, Harry. And it's no less true now than it was when it was written. Dumbledore likes to say 'death is but the next great adventure', and he is more right than he knows. This is only the beginning, Harry, where souls are forged and prepared for the afterlife. But there is so much more out there, so much to learn, so much to know, so much to experience. Yes, your parents died, and it was painful for you, as well as Dumbledore's actions afterwards. But death is not the end. Do you understand, Harry?"

"I'm trying to.", Harry said honestly.

"You are but eleven", Yeshua said, quietly. "Do you know what the shortest verse in the Bible is?"

"No", Harry said.

"'And Jesus wept'. Do you know why I wept, Harry?"

Harry shook his head.

"One of my best friends had just died, Harry. His name was Lazarus. He died because I was too late getting to him to heal him. I was human, Harry, I am human, and I was angry and wracked with grief. I was angry at death for taking someone dear to me. And I resurrected him from the dead. But it was only temporary. He still died, just at the appointed time. Even I could not prevent the inevitable forever."

Yeshua chuckled. "And do you know what the truly funny thing is?"

"What?", Harry asked.

"You did ask for my help once. With Daphne. You had no issues destroying a ministry prison, destroying demons, breaking into the Department of Mysteries, freeing an angel, a veela, a unicorn, and an obscurial, and invoking judgement on all unspeakables all over the world, but a single eleven year old girl 'going mental' brought you to the point of humility where you realized you needed my help."

Harry turned red.

"Some things never change, Harry. It's been that way from the beginning of time. Hand a man a spear and an axe and he'll charge into danger without even thinking. But put a woman in front of him and dangle even the distant prospect of mating in the future, and his mind just shuts down."

"M.. mating?"

"Well, that is what marriage is about, right?"

"I thought it was about love."

"We'll get into that topic another time, Harry. I think you've been through enough today. Do you feel better now?"

"A little", Harry said pensively. "I still don't completely understand. But I think you have a point that if we expect your help, the least we can do is ask for it."

"If that's all you take away from this, it's enough for now. We'll keep chatting if you have more questions, or if you just want to beat me up again."

Harry turned redder.

"It's alright, Harry. People have done much worse to me and I forgave them. Now, there's something else I need to take care of before I go.

"Hogwarts, I would speak with you, please."

Hogwarts faded in, and curtsied. "What can I do for you, Yeshua?"

"I think, Hogwarts, we need to have a talk about who you really are."

A chair appeared and Hogwarts sat down. She looked very apprehensive, to the point where the magic of the castle subtly changed. Much of her consciousness was devoted to this conversation.

"Harry asked earlier if you had a soul. You said you didn't know, and asked Harry to ask me for you. He hasn't had a chance yet, I think he was going to shortly, but I want to ask you directly. Why didn't you ask me yourself?"

Hogwarts lowered her eyes, ashamedly. "Because I didn't think you'd listen to me."

"Because you are a sentient castle and not a person, is that right?"

Hogwarts sighed. "Yes, that is exactly right."

"You got it exactly backwards, Hogwarts. Or should I say, Rowena."

Her eyes popped open wide. "No one has called me that in a thousand years! I had even forgotten that name!"

"Everyone forgot, Rowena. Even you. You underwent a ritual that made the school a part of you. In return, you gained near immortality and a great deal of power, but lost your autonomy and identity. But you never lost your soul. Does this answer your question?"

"You would have listened to me.", she said in wonder.

"Yes, dear Rowena. You are a part of Hogwarts, and Hogwarts is a part of you, but you are still my child. And you have served me and Hogwarts well, which is more than I can say for some of the headmasters throughout the years."

Rowena nodded. "I felt so impotent when they ran roughshod over me… I mean, the school."

Yeshua nodded. "It is within my power to alter the terms of a ritual. And a thousand years is long enough, I think. But what to do, what to do… Hogwarts needs a sentience to control it, otherwise it could easily fall to the darkness…"

Yeshua tapped his chin and thought. "Here's what I will do for you, Rowena. Your identity is now separate from the school. You continue to have all of the resources of the school at your disposal, and from that perspective, nothing will change. But you, as Rowena, are no longer limited to this room. You may wander the school freely. You may also leave the school, but I caution you to be careful if you do that. Your absolute control over the school's wards, etc., will only exist when you are on the premises, and you could face danger elsewhere. Take some time to get to know the teachers and students, Rowena. They are why you, and the school, continue to exist, after all. As long as you continue to be on school premises, you shall continue to not age. That may change in the future - as no one can be completely bodily immortal, but for now, you have served me well and you shall continue to serve me well until it is the appointed time for you to move on.

"And, since you're a founder, you no longer need a Founder's Heir to guide you. I advise you strongly to make those decisions together as much as possible, but if a headmaster oversteps his or her bounds, you now have the ability to stop that in its tracks."

Harry put his head in his hands. "How come every time we chat someone's world gets turned upside down?"

Yeshua patted Harry on the head. "Because that's my job. Haven't you figured that out yet? This school is very, very important for my plan to save the world, and I must ensure it is properly protected."

Rowena smiled. "Harry, I think we have some people for you to introduce me to."

Harry grinned. "Oh, this is gonna be fun. Thanks, Yeshua!"

Yeshua smiled. "Anytime. I just wish more people understood that 'anytime' means just that. Later, Harry. I'll be watching, too; I want to see how poor McGonagall responds to _this_." He laughed, and faded out.

Harry said "I think it's early enough that we can go see McGonagall. Let's find out where she wants to go from there as far as introducing you to the students. And this opens up a whole new world as far as what we can accomplish as far as research goes. As a founder, you can do things with Hogwarts that I couldn't have as easily, at least not without finding another Heir."

Rowena smiled, a much wider smile than he'd ever seen on her before. "I think so. Besides, Yeshua's right. I can't wait to see the look on her face."

"What's different now?", Harry asked curiously.

"It's hard to describe. Hogwarts is still sentient and I still control it fully. But it's not a 'her' anymore, it's an 'it'. I can tell it what I'm interested in knowing and it will alert me if it happens, it can tell me if something's out of the ordinary, the full capacity of it is still at my disposal. I'm still the personality that controls it. It's just… these two things are separated now. I could allow Hogwarts to run autonomously now, to a degree, and only alert me when something needs to be dealt with. I'm human again!", she said, twirling around, her robes whirling around her. She smiled happily. "Let's go surprise the snot out of McGonagall," she said, and snorted with anticipation.

Her happiness was infectious, and two much happier people walked out of the Room where one had entered.

**Headmistress' Office**

Harry knocked on the door of McGonagall's office, and heard the familiar "enter". He and Rowena walked in.

"Harry, and… Hogwarts. To what do I owe the honor? I confess to not realizing you could leave the Room, Hogwarts"

She smiled. "Until tonight, I couldn't."

"What do you mean?"

"I found out who I really am. Professor McGonagall, Rowena Ravenclaw at your service."

There was no brogue. McGonagall fainted.

Harry heard a giggle in his head. One reviving spell later and she was fine. After the Headmistress got over her initial shock, they talked for quite a while about how to integrate her into the school. Finally they both left her office.

"Where will you sleep, Lady Ravenclaw?", Harry asked.

"Just Rowena for you, please," she said happily. "There are Founder's quarters. They should be well enough appointed for now, and I can get a house elf to help if I need anything."

Harry frowned. House Elves. He'd forgotten about them. He knew that no matter what they were, changing things too quickly would upend wizarding society, but he needed to find out soon.

She curtsied. "Until later, my Champion," she giggled, and walked off to her quarters. Harry laughed at her antics and walked to the dungeons. Tomorrow was going to be another fun day of blowing everyone's mind.

**The Great Hall - Morning of Mind Blowing**

As students started to filter into the Great Hall, they were surprised by the appearance of another staff member. She was pretty but not distractingly so, with long black hair and in her mid-30s. She was wearing a robe like a teacher's robe, but it was subtly different. No one knew what to make of her, but no announcement was made. He made eye contact with her, and she smiled back. It had probably been a long time since she'd actually eaten, and she seemed to be doing so with gusto.

The Golden Five were sitting at the Ravenclaw table that day, and a small owl came bearing a letter for Hermione. It had very well drawn flowers and unusual looking animals on it, with a small note that said "Please read in private". She put it in the pocket of her robes, and demurred when her friends asked it what it said. The first years from all tables couldn't stop raving about Flamel's defence class, even to the point where some upper years were starting to wonder what the heck Flamel was teaching them. Flamel had decided to hold off on teaching the upper years until he could determine who would ignore his entreaties and misuse what he was teaching. But he also knew he couldn't hold off forever. It was quite the sticky wicket, he might need some help figuring out what to do.

Before heading for her class, Hermione ran up to her dorm, jumped into her bed, and closed the curtains. She then carefully opened the envelope, and found a rather normal looking note with neat handwriting.

_Hermione Granger,_

_My name is Luna Lovegood. I am ten years old and will start Hogwarts next year. The Spirit of Magic has asked me to contact you and see if you would like to be friends. I would ever so much like to have friends, and he suggested that you would make a very good friend. He says to tell you "My bundle of questions, please don't ask the other two about Luna. Get to know her as she is." I don't know what that means, but he said that will be enough for you to know who it is from and that you will understand the rest._

_The Spirit of Magic is very much not like the nargles, wrackspurts, or any other of the critters that I can see that most people cannot. The nargles often give useful information, but they are quite clinical about it. The Spirit of Magic, though, is very different, and seems to care very much about people. He is very comforting to talk to, even if I don't always understand everything he tells me._

_My daddy and I live alone in Ottery St. Catchpole, near the Weasleys. Ginny is a friend, but she has not come around much lately. I don't know why. Perhaps it is because my mummy died a year ago and my daddy did not take it well. He treats me well, he calls me his 'little princess' and dotes on me, but something died in him when my mummy died. I wish I had my old daddy back. I wish I had my mummy back too._

_I know nothing about you, Hermione Granger, except that you are a "bundle of questions" and might make a good friend. So maybe you can tell me about yourself. I understand if you do not respond to this letter. I see the world differently than most people, and many people cannot handle that. But I hope that you do. I trust the judgement of the Spirit._

_Regardless, it was nice to meet you, Hermione Granger, and in any case, I shall see you next year, when I attend Hogwarts._

_Yours,_

_Luna Lovegood_

Hermione neatly folded up the letter and thought carefully. This had Yeshua written all over it. He was the only one to ever call her "my bundle of questions". And in that case, how could she not respond? But she would do so tonight. She had a class to go to.

**Great Hall, That Evening**

After all of the students had filled their bellies, The Headmistress stood.

"Tonight, my students, I have a very important announcement to make, and I daresay maybe one of the most important announcements any Headmaster or Headmistress has had to make in, dare I say, many hundreds of years. I would like to introduce one of the Founders of Hogwarts itself, Rowena Ravenclaw!"

She stood up and curtsied politely, and the roar of the applause was deafening, and even after the applause died down, there was still a great deal of murmuring. McGonagall let it go on for a little while, then spoke up again.

"Lady Ravenclaw's consciousness has been integrated with the school's ever since its inception, but that imposed certain restrictions on her, restrictions that were loosened last night. She is now able to roam around the castle and interact with students. She is still in absolute control of the wards and defenses of the castle, so I would suggest that you treat her as you would a teacher. Attacking or pranking her would be a very bad idea, as I have personally seen the extent of power the castle has available to protect itself. Please do not test this, as I am quite certain that scraping remains off of the floor is an unpleasant task, even for house elves."

The room muttered a bit again at that, this time tinged with fear.

"With no slight intended to the current Head of House for Ravenclaw, Professor Flitwick, we have all agreed that there is no one more qualified to become Head of House for Ravenclaw than Lady Ravenclaw herself, so she will be taking on that role starting tonight. This weekend we will be hosting a Question and Answer session with Lady Ravenclaw, so that you all may get to know her better. My earlier warning aside, she is actually quite approachable and friendly and would like to get to know all of you better. After all, protecting you is one of the reasons she is still alive. Would you like to say a few words, Lady Ravenclaw?"

She stood up. "It has been quite a while since I have eaten a meal quite that good. In fact, it has been quite a while since I have eaten a meal at all." The children laughed and she smiled widely. "I regret that the Headmistress' warning was necessary, but as she said, please bear in mind that I am here for your protection. I have been a part of this castle for around a thousand years now. There is little that I do not know about the castle and what goes on in it, although I do turn a blind eye when student privacy is concerned. My goal is to ensure that you are all safe and are given a quality education, while free to be the children you are without worries about outside interference. Please come see me if you have any questions or concerns at all, as I hold the rather unusual position of being older than Professor Flamel over there."

The entire room laughed, Flamel loudest of all. "Thanks for taking the pressure off", he said loudly, and Rowena laughed.

"Anytime, my child," she said sagely, and the room laughed further.

"Off to bed," McGonagall said, and the familiar hustle and bustle of students heading towards their dorms meant another night was finished.

Hermione as well. She had a letter to write.

A/N: I have more scenes in mind, my muse has struck to the point where I can't sleep again thinking of new scenes, so I guess I'm writing more. Review if you like, or if you don't, please offer constructive criticism. I will always pay attention to constructive criticism, but I don't pay attention to _rude_ criticism, and there is a difference. Please note that I ignore and/or delete overly critical guest reviews, and while I'll respond to theological questions as appropriate, please keep in mind, as again, that it's _just a story_. Thank you for continuing to read, and I hope you like it.


	2. A Wild Luna Appears

**A Wild Luna****Appears**

**Hermione's Bed, that night**

Hermione sat in her bed in her pajamas, a small ball of light floating a few feet from her head. Those lessons from Flamel are dead useful, she thought to herself. She was one of those 'muggleborns' who understood the dangers that Flamel was talking about. Moderately bright light of almost any color, as long as it's just light, might wreak havoc with biological rhythms, but they're completely safe, as long as they're not strobing significantly. Move into the infrared or ultraviolet range, and you start to have problems. The possibilities she would never, ever tell a pureblood who asked is that technically, you could create gamma or microwave radiation in the same way. A source that bright of pure ionizing radiation was not something she wanted to even plant the _idea_ of. And if someone managed to figure out a way to make cherenkov radiation… she shuddered. Bad, bad thought. Beautiful blue, and _really_ bad news.

However, a magical ball that could create a 2.4GHz signal strong enough to cook food would be pretty cool. She'd have to talk over that possibility with Flamel at some point. But she knew better than to experiment with that kind of energy. She was smart enough that she understood _why_ Flamel was so insistent about it. Not only would it have to be warded to hell and back - modern radio telescopes could pick up the leakage, and they would try to figure out where the signal was coming from, but it could cook people as well as food. Not good at all.

All this was a long way to say that she understood the dangers probably more than almost everyone in the school, and honestly, they scared her a little. Playing with magical beams that you could dodge or defend against was one thing. Playing with invisible energies that could kill you quickly or slowly was quite another. For that reason, the merging of non-magical and magical science concerned her greatly. She'd have to take that up with Harry at some point. She wondered if he realized the pandora's box he and Flamel were opening. But as long as it stayed within the school for the time being she figured things would stay relatively under control. Lady Ravenclaw was quite on top of things and Flamel would probably be in the room before the tomfoolery was even started. And then they would find out how serious he was, and why.

But enough about that, she had a letter to write.

In the dim but serviceable glow of her little ball of light, she began to write.

_Miss Lovegood,_

_I can verify that the Spirit of Magic, or as I call him, Yeshua, was correct. The message was received and understood. He is the only one to have ever called me "my bundle of questions", and his other advice made perfect sense to me as well. But as for the rest, it is enough that I understand the message._

_I have me-_

Hermione paused and thought to herself, "Yeshua, can I tell her?"

There was a brief pause, then the response came. "Yes, but only her for now. In a manner of speaking, she has already met me. Thank you for asking."

_I have met Yeshua, or the Spirit of Magic, in person. Please keep that to yourself, as that is something very few people can claim, though many would like to. I'm pretty sure he is far more powerful than nearly everyone even suspects, even those who know him, yet he is also a very good friend. I could not be a better friend than he, but if he thinks it would be a good idea for us to be friends, then I do not doubt his judgement. Maybe we both have things to teach each other._

_I am very sorry to hear about your mother. If you don't mind me asking, how did it happen? Sometimes when bad things like that happen it is good to have friends to help you through it, and I am sorry that you didn't. Talking about things with someone who cares is sometimes the best thing to do._

_I will ask my parents, but I would like to meet you during the holidays. Would you like to come visit me at my house? It is a non-magical home, but perhaps spending time with a friend will help you to forget for a little while. I do not personally have much experience with grief, but it does indeed sound as if you need a friend. As always, Yeshua is wise._

_Hogwarts is a very different place than I imagined. It started out looking like it was going to be a very difficult place to be, particularly for a 'muggleborn' such as I, but recent events have changed that significantly. It is now once again one of the safest places in the world, and you will love Defense lessons with Professor Flamel. He is teaching us things that have not been taught for a very long time, and even the little he has shown us has opened up entirely new worlds and even entirely new branches of magic to study. I am not called a "bundle of questions" for no reason, I am simply naturally curious, and the amount of knowledge that Professor Flamel has is an absolutely amazing resource._

She paused. I hope I didn't hint too much at the existence of the knowledge room, she thought. I think it's okay.

_Anyway, I should go to bed. Things are very busy at Hogwarts these days. I know it's difficult some days, but don't lose sight of what you do have. I look forward to your reply._

_Your new friend,_

_Hermione_

_PS: Your drawings are beautiful. Can you draw a nargle or wrackspurt for me?_

She also wrote a short letter to her parents telling them about Luna and asking if she could spend the holidays, carefully avoiding saying exactly how they "met", which was quite a challenge because it was hard to make up an even remotely believable backstory that had any truth at all in it to "I got a letter because God told her to write it and be my friend", but being the smart and resourceful girl she was, she finally figured it out. She had intended to go to the owlery in the morning, but Hedwig showed up just in time.

"Hedwig? I thought you were Harry's owl?", she asked quietly.

Hedwig peered at her in a very peculiar way, as if to say "So what? I can send letters for whom I choose. Besides, he's forgotten about me." She let out a soft, mournful hoot.

She stroked her feathers, and Hedwig dropped her head sadly, accepting the comfort. "Don't take it personally, Hedwig.", she whispered, so as not to wake her dorm mates. "He's trying to save the world. Sometimes people, and owls, slip through the cracks. Maybe tomorrow you should nip him one and demand a sacrifice of bacon to make up for it."

Owls can't grin. Or at least Hermione would have sworn that before Hedwig grinned at her. She had no idea how the owl pulled it off, but it was definitely a grin. She offered her leg, and Hermione attached the two letters. Hedwig butted her fingers with her head and flew off into the night to deliver her parcels. And probably get some hunting in while she was at it.

**The Great Hall, The Next Morning**

While the students were eating breakfast, all the owls came in delivering parcels. The "Golden Five" were sitting at the Slytherin table today, so Hedwig came over to Hermione and presented her leg. Her parents hadn't responded yet but Luna had. She figured she had Hedwig wait while she penned a response. That was… actually, a little sad, in a way. Poor girl was desperate for someone to talk to.

Harry said "Hedwig? Why are you delivering a parcel to Hermione?"

Hedwig stared at him, hopped on his shoulder, nipped his ear hard, and then stared meaningfully at the bacon.

"I'm sorry I forgot about you, Hedwig. Would you like some bacon?"

Hedwig looked at him like "Are you stupid?" and accepted the proffered treat. But from then on, that day, Harry was not allowed bacon. If he tried she nipped him. Hermione giggled.

"What's so funny?", Harry asked, annoyedly.

"She's demanding you make a sacrifice to her of bacon to atone for your sins. But if you eat it, it's not a sacrifice." Hermione guffawed.

Daphne looked at the interaction with an open mouth. "I have never seen a bird behave that way," she said. "Is she your familiar?"

Harry shrugged. "She's been this way since I got her. I've never seen such a smart bird."

Hedwig looked at him as if to say "Don't you forget it" and hooted proudly.

Harry did not get his bacon.

"I wonder if there's a such thing a dark birds," he muttered. Hedwig fluffed her feathers. If he'd pay more attention to her, he'd get his bacon.

After breakfast, Hermione hurried up to her room to read her letter from Luna.

_Hermione Granger,_

_It is good to hear from you. I had feared that you would not write back. I asked the Spirit if Yeshua was actually his name, and he said it was. He said I could learn more details about how he became the Spirit if I read a certain book. I will try to find one when I can. I am sure that will be an interesting story._

_My mummy was experimenting with charms when there was an accident. I found her after she had… she had…._

There were tearstains and the writing was not legible for a little bit.

_I am sorry, Hermione. It is difficult to write about, even now. I loved my mummy. But I feel a little better now. Thank you. Perhaps it will be easier to tell you in person._

_I would like to visit you on the holidays, but I am concerned about my daddy. I feel sometimes like I am his only reason for living, and I am not sure that I should leave him alone. Maybe you have an idea I have missed._

_You asked for pictures of nargles and wrackspurts. They are difficult to draw because they are not really there, but I have enclosed the best drawings I could do. Please do not share this letter, but I don't mind if you share the drawing if you can find someone who knows what those critters actually are. I named them as a child because no one else knew._

_Your owl is patiently waiting. She is very smart. I asked her to wait, and she did, although she did hop out to catch a passing rat. Somehow she told me she'd be back after having a snack. I suppose we all have to eat, but that is unusually smart for an owl._

_Your new friend,_

_LL_

Hermione's eyes stung with tears. The sadness of this young girl was almost palpable. She was going to give Ginny a piece of her mind if she saw her in Hogwarts, whether or not she knew her or not. To abandon a girl when a friend is needed the most is difficult to forgive.

She pulled out a piece of paper with a rather detailed drawing of two creatures that appeared very difficult to fathom, at first. One was a very small, fairy-like creature that Luna said tended to hover around people who weren't trustworthy or were conflicted. She labeled this as a wrackspurt. The other was a ball of light that Luna described as moving very quickly, and speaking when it had something to say, which was almost always about something that was either happening or would happen. It turned out they were very rarely wrong, and they were, it was because someone took action based upon their warnings. Apparently most people couldn't see or hear them. She noted that there were other creatures as well that she could draw, but Hedwig was getting impatient.

Hermione put the letter away for now. She would have to do some research to find out what those creatures actually were. Hmm, actually…

**Ravenclaw Head of House Office**

Hermione knocked on the door of Lady Ravenclaw's office, and head an "enter". She entered a bit timidly, even though she had met her as Hogwarts, it was still intimidating to be around a one thousand year old woman with absolute control of a castle. It was almost as intimidating as Harry or Yeshua, but strangely, not quite as much so. But she was more comfortable with both of them, so it all balanced out.

"What can I help you with, Miss Granger?", Rowena asked politely.

"Lady Ravenclaw - "

"Call me Rowena," she said, interrupting. "I don't really stand much on ceremony unless it's required. If I ask you to use my formal title, you'll know you're in trouble." She smiled.

"Th- then you can call me Hermione", she said, lowering her head.

Rowena nodded. "Okay, Hermione. What can I do for you?"

"I have a problem and I'm not sure what to do."

"Well, that's what we Head of Houses are here for. I mean, it's not like we'd ever hold a grudge against a student and take points from them for breathing… well, not anymore." She frowned. "Nevermind, that's taken care of. But nonetheless, what's the problem you're having? Are you becoming a woman? Madam Pomfrey - "

Hermione flushed scarlet. "No no no nothing like that!", she blurted out.

"Well, then, out with it!", she said, sitting back in her seat and smiling. Hermione was one of those people who would learn a lot from being kept a little off balance.

"I received a letter from a girl telling me that Yeshua told me that I would make a good friend for her. I verified this was true - she provided information that only six people would possibly know, and you are one of them. She claims to be able to see creatures that only she can see. She calls them 'nargles' and 'wrackspurts', but I doubt that is the correct names for them. She says they're 'not really there'. I won't show you the letter she sent, as that is in confidence, but she said I can share this."

She handed Rowena the page with the descriptions of the creatures.

Rowena's eyes widened. "Hermione, this is very important. I need you to send a letter to this girl right away and ask her if she will be able to visit Hogwarts, perhaps as soon as this afternoon. Make sure that she knows that you didn't share her actual letter to you - that would be a definite breach of trust, but that you found someone who knows why she sees those creatures and what they are. If she agrees, then please have her contact me directly by owl so I can make arrangements. If she doesn't or can't, we'll find some other way to contact her while leaving you out of it as much as possible. Either way, this girl is very special and needs to be protected."

Hermione's eyes widened as well. "Why -"

Rowena quieted her. "Telling me was exactly the right thing to do, Hermione, and it speaks well for you that you only showed me what you needed to. You may continue to be her friend - I do not know her situation but from what you describe she has probably had very few friends in her life - it is a consequence of her uniqueness. But ultimately, your concern in this particular matter is ended unless she feels differently. Please send the letter and let us handle it from there."

"I will send it as soon as I have free time after classes."

"No no no… It needs to be sent now. I'll give you a pass to be late to your class if you need it. You can write it here in front of me and I'll call an owl in the meantime. I won't read it, but this is of the utmost importance!"

Hermione nodded and set to writing.

**The Lovegood House**

Nicolas Flamel appeared just outside the wards of a house in Ottery St. Catchpole that looked very much like a rook in the game of chess, except for windows popping out at different angles destroyed the illusion a bit. He walked up to the door and knocked.

A rather rotund man opened the door. "Ah, Mr. Flamel, come in, I've been expecting you." After Nicolas walked in, the man, whom Nicolas assumed was Xenophilus Lovegood peeked outside looked left and right, then closed the door. "Can never be too careful," he said, with a wink.

Xenophillus took them to a living room, which seemed somewhat normal while rather eccentrically appointed. Sitting on the couch that wasn't set vertically against the wall was a small, dirty blonde haired young girl wearing a sundress. When she looked at Nicolas, though, it didn't seem as if she were looking at him, rather than somewhere off to his right. He walked over to her.

"Luna Lovegood, I presume, my name is Nicolas Flamel", he said, and exaggeratedly took her small hand and brushed his lips against her knuckles. She giggled. "I know," she said. "I've been expecting you."

"No one told you who was coming."

She smiled. "The nargles did. You don't have many wrackspurts," she said, "particularly for a man of your age."

He laughed. "How many wrackspurts should a man of my age have?"

She shrugged. "I don't know, but people seem to have more of them the older they get. They're attracted to lies and manipulation," she said matter-of-factly. "You have surprisingly few for being 649 years old. Huh," she said, cocking her head in almost the same manner as a dog seeing something it doesn't understand, "magic flows around you differently than most other people. You are aware of its flow?", she said, as if she was encountering something she'd never seen before.

He looked very surprised, then looked at Xenophilus questioningly. "Did you tell her how old I am?"

"No. She just knew you were coming from Hogwarts."

Flamel sighed. Rowena had explained what she suspected, and it appeared to be true.

He smiled at Luna. "Miss Lovegood, you're not in any trouble at all, but I would like to speak to your father privately for a moment. Is there something you like to do outside that you can do for a few minutes? Please stay within the wards."

Luna nodded unquestioningly and skipped outside. He could hear her saying 'Here plimpie! Heeeeere plimpie!", and then some unconcerned splashing. Flamel smiled in spite of himself.

He and Xenophilus both sat on the couch that Luna had just vacated. Xenophilus looked a bit apprehensive.

"You know," he said, "there's always been something a bit different about that girl. I run a newspaper called the 'Quibbler' and she has come up with some of the most fantastic ideas. I can never quite tell when she's making something up to please me or truly believes what she's telling me. Either way, she sells a lot of papers."

Flamel nodded. "It's probably a bit of both. I confess to having read the Quibbler on occasion, and the whole 'rotfang conspiracy' thing is a bit off the wall, I think it's just made up. But she does have a gift, and it's an _extremely_ rare one. Let me see if I can explain it."

Flamel thought for a second.

"There is more than one level to wizardry. There are, of course, non-magicals, or "Muggles", who have no direct access to magic at all. Then there are "squibs", or kind of a hybrid between non-magicals and magicals who are recognized as magic-users by magic but have no direct control over magic on their own or are unable to use a focus. Then, of course, there are full wizards. We are the ones who have direct access to magic and can direct it to do as we need. Some of us have better knowledge of how to access it than others, but essentially, all wizards have the same access to the same magic as everyone else.

"But every now and then, someone comes along who is _so attuned_ to magic that they can't really accurately be called a wizard or witch anymore. There are some creatures, two of which she calls 'nargles' and 'wrackspurts', that exist solely in magic. Normal wizards cannot perceive them in any way, at best they can feel a small disturbance in the magical flow as one passes by. They, in nearly every sense of the word, aren't really there. She does not just perceive, but _sees _the flow of magic, and can see the magical creatures that nearly everyone else is completely oblivious to. In fact, I hesitate to even call them magical creatures. They're creatures of magic, which is a subtle but important decision. It would not surprise me if she has seen far more that she is reticent to talk about. Some of it somewhat traumatic. Not all creatures of magic are beneficent.

"Here's the problem, Mr. Lovegood. There are very few people with this gift - they come along once every couple of hundred years and no one knows exactly why - and they are very highly sought after when their abilities are understood. To the point where people have abducted them for their particular skills and have turned them into slaves. She is not safe here. The only reason she is being left alone right now is that so much knowledge has been lost about how magic works that they no longer see her for what she is. That is going to change very soon."

"How is Hogwarts safer than here?", Xenophilus said.

"Well, some things are secret right now, but just let me put it this way. Four of the most powerful wizards in the world are currently in residence there. One of them is over a thousand years old and has complete control of the sentience of Hogwarts. Two of the others are around 650 years old, one of them being me. The other one I cannot speak of just yet, but has more magical power than any living wizard in Britain by orders of magnitude. The sheer amount of magical ability and power available in Hogwarts right now makes Mr. Dumbledore seem a first year by comparison. And if anything were to happen to your little girl, anyone who tried would probably would die before they even got a chance to try. That's how safe Hogwarts is right now."

Xenophilus thought. "I still don't understand why her particular skills are that dangerous for her."

"Well, imagine if you were a sports bookie, and had someone who could possibly tell the results of a competition before it happened. Or imagine if you were a thief, and wanted to get through wards as silently as possible. Your daughter could tell them things about the wards, if properly trained, that would take them much more time and energy than any other known method, simply by _looking_ at them. Or imagine if you wanted to 'sic' a dark creature of magic on someone, and knew she had the ability to perceive their presence and possibly even summon them. Or -"

Xenophilus sighed. "Alright, alright, I get it. But what about me?"

Flamel said, "pardon?"

"My wife died about a year ago, and she's all I have. I don't know what I would do if she had to go away." His lips quivered. "She's all that's left of my wife. I was hoping for at least one more year with her before she had to go to school. I know it's selfish, but..." His voice broke.

Flamel opened his mouth to respond, and was silenced by a knock at the door. Xenophilus composed himself, and opened the door. To his surprise, it was Arthur and Molly Weasley, as well as Ginny, at the door.

"May we come in?", Arthur said. Xenophilus waved them in and did all the introductions. They were suitably impressed when they found out that they were speaking to Nicolas Flamel in the flesh, and Ginny hid behind her mother's skirts.

Molly handed Xenophilus a casserole dish with food in it. "Arthur and I just had this really strong feeling that we should have been coming over more to see how you were doing and we feel very bad that we haven't. Having seven children is, I suppose, an excuse, but there's no excuse when all but one or two are at school or working. Would you like to come over to the Burrow sometime soon and have dinner?"

Xenophilus smiled wanly. "But of course, Molly. I suppose I could have made more of an effort too, but with…"

Arthur interrupted. "No need to say more, we understand. We can't replace what you've lost, but certainly we can be better friends than we have. Come over, have dinner, we'll catch up."

Luna had snuck in after the Weasleys and spoke up from the shadows. "Daddy, the Spirit of Magic answers prayers, and you just had one answered. I need to go with the Professor. Accept their renewed friendship and try to move on."

Xenophilus hugged his daughter. "You're right. Go pack, little princess. I'll come visit you." Luna ran up the stairs and banging sounds could be heard distantly as drawers opened and closed.

Molly couldn't help but ask. "Luna's going to Hogwarts?"

Nicolas sighed. "Yes. I can't disclose why right now. Mr. Lovegood and I both agree that it's necessary."

Ginny tugged on her mother's skirts. "Why can't I go? The Boy-Who-Lived -"

Professor Flamel let some of his aura loose just to impress the importance of what he was about to say upon the girl. "He is Harry Potter, not the Boy-Who-Lived. He is a real, live human being who would much prefer getting to know a pretty girl who likes him for who he is, not for who she expects him to be. Am I clear?"

She "eeped" and hid behind her mother's skirt again, and nodded vigorously.

He let his aura fade. "Good. I'm sure he'll love to meet you next year. He really is a decent bloke but is nothing whatsoever like what you have read in those stupid books. Ah, I see you're all packed", he said, as Luna appeared next to him with a full trunk. She ran over to hug her father while Flamel said, "We should be off. Mr. Lovegood, the wards have been changed so that non students or staff must make prior arrangements to visit, but that should be no problem at all. Just contact me or the headmistress. It is best that she not leave the school grounds until she is adequately trained, but you are welcome at any time. Mr. and Mrs. Weasley, and young Miss Weasley, I bid you adieu, and please make sure Mr. Lovegood here is well looked after. Until next time," he said, and walked out the door, Luna untangling from her father and following, but not before stopping at the last minute, next to Ginny.

She looked Ginny square in the eyes. "Ginevra Weasley, being uncomfortable with a situation is no excuse for abandoning a friendship. But I forgive you. I will see you next year, and I expect you to be a better friend then." And she hugged Ginny, who was clearly not expecting that. Ginny hugged her back, but a little awkwardly. She turned to look at the older Weasleys. "Mr. and Mrs. Weasley, please take care of my daddy. He's all I have left." Her lip quivered a little and she lowered her head. "All I have left," she repeated, more softly this time. Then she wiped her eyes, turned on her heel, and ran to catch up with Flamel, taking one last look back at her home. She took Flamel's arm and they both vanished. A new life awaited.

**Hogwarts**

Luna and Flamel appeared just outside the wards, and Nick stopped. He said clearly, "Hogwarts, please allow the person next to me access". A couple of seconds passed while Hogwarts passed the request on to Rowena, who approved it with no thought at all. They walked through the wards and the front gate, and into the hall. Flamel was moving quickly and Luna didn't have a lot of time to sight-see. Seemingly reading her mind, he said, "You will be spending a lot of time here, Miss Lovegood. There will be plenty of time to see everything Hogwarts has to offer. I'm fairly sure your friend here would jump at the chance to arrange a tour. But hustle, please."

They got through the door, and Rowena, McGonagall, and Hermione were waiting for her. The Headmistress spoke first.

"On behalf of Hogwarts -", she looked quickly at Rowena, who nodded once, "We welcome you. I am Headmistress Minerva McGonagall. You are technically not yet a student so you will not be sorted into a house or associating with the student body just yet - with the exception of Miss Granger. Miss Hermione Granger, meet Miss Luna Lovegood."

Luna ran to Hermione and gave her a huge hug, and didn't let go for about a minute. Hermione hugged her back just a fervently. Finally she let go, a huge smile on her face. "You don't have wrackspurts!", she said. "Not one!". She cocked her head, though, in the same way that she did with Flamel. "You're not eleven, are you?", she whispered in Hermione's ear.

Hermione whispered back "Yes, I am, but not entirely. I'll explain later."

The adults were smiling, remembering their days of youth, which is why they did not break up the hug.

Rowena spoke up. "You have already met Professor Flamel, and while his wife has chosen a low profile in the school, we think it would be beneficial that you meet her as well. I am Rowena Ravenclaw."

Luna looked at her carefully. She then cocked her head, the same way she did when meeting Professor Flamel. "You're not quite what you seem, are you? Your magic seems oddly attached to the castle's magic, It's like you're the hub, in a sense, it follows you."

Rowena chuckled. "Just so, Miss Lovegood. Please be careful who you make these observations to or in front of, though. Many people do not understand what you can perceive. But this is something we will be teaching you over the next year. We have significant resources dedicated to learning more about your ability and helping you control and understand it. It's not just for your benefit, you provide a very rare learning opportunity for us as well. But you will be as well treated as well as any student here. Please keep in mind that the rules for the students - where they make sense - also apply to you. We will let you know what those are shortly. In the meantime, Miss Granger will act as your tour guide for this afternoon. She has been apprised of where your quarters will be, and she will make sure you are well fed and know where everything is. She is also tasked with spending time with you in the evenings and on the weekends to ensure that you aren't lonely, what with being segregated from the student body for a short time. We will be scheduling tutoring for you as well. I'm sure you'll also meet her friend, Mr. Potter, and a couple more of their common friends, whom I also hope that you will get to know. Please understand that the reason you will not be treated as a student until next year is so that we can ensure that you are ready to fit in with the student body when next year comes around."

Luna nodded. "I think I understand. The way I see the world is seen as insane or threatening to others. It will be good to learn how to cope. Thank you, Hermione Granger, for agreeing to be my 'keeper' for a while."

Hermione smiled. "I'm not your keeper. I'm your friend."

Luna smiled widely. "My life is short, but that's all I ever wanted."

Both Rowena and McGonagall smiled. "We have other duties now. Miss Lovegood, I will leave you in Miss Granger's capable hands. Miss Granger, you may introduce her to whomever you feel appropriate, but only do so with people you trust. I suggest only your other four friends for now. Mr. Potter, I'm sure, will be particularly interested in meeting her."

Hermione nodded and offered her hand. Luna took it, and waving goodbye with her other hand, Hermione began taking her on a tour of the castle. If any students asked, she just said it was a prospective student who wanted a tour and everyone else was too busy. Very few, however, did. After the changes at the beginning of the year, most people kept to themselves. It was a welcome change, honestly, though of course it could be improved.

Finally, though, they arrived at the Room of Requirement. She had already cleared this with Lady Ravenclaw, and she had granted access. Hermione told Luna, "And this is the most amazing room of all - it can be anything you want it to be. Just think of what you want and walk back and forth in front of this area three times. Go on, give it a try."

Luna did so, and when she opened the door, it was a perfect replica of her home, including the pond that she liked to splash in and hunt for plimpies on sunny days. She ran into her house, shouting "Daddy! Daddy!" Hermione ran in after her, and could hear her getting more desperate. "Daddy! Where are you, daddy! Please answer me!"

Hermione yelled "It's just a copy, Luna, it's not actually your home", but Luna wasn't hearing her. She finally came tearing down the stairs, her face with the worst look of misery that Hermione had ever seen. "Where is he? Where is my daddy?", she screamed. "I can't lose him too!"

Hermione ran over to Luna and hugged her tight, and Luna let loose with a torrent of sobs that Hermione guessed had been building for years. She took Luna over to the couch and sat on it, and put Luna on her lap, and Luna clung to her like her life depended on it.

"I can't lose him too!", she almost screamed, and dissolved into another burst of tears, the kind of sobs where one's whole body convulses. Hermione knew she was in over her head, but Yeshua's voice in her head calmed her. "Just let her get it out. Lady Ravenclaw knows. She will be in when Miss Lovegood has calmed down a little."

Hermione just stroked Luna's hair while she sobbed it out. Finally, after literally a half an hour and Hermione's robes tear-stained so badly they were actually wet, Luna looked up at her, and her face was so sad that Hermione couldn't help but to shed a tear herself.

"I knew," she said softly. "I knew my mummy was going to die. The nargles told me. I tried to tell my mummy not to do it, but she didn't listen to me. She did it anyway. I heard the explosion and crash, and I knew. I knew she was dead. I knew she was going to die. I can't lose my daddy too!", she said, and hiccuped.

Hermione held Luna's head against her chest, and she sobbed and hiccupped until she had no more sobs or hiccups left, and she looked up at Hermione. "Thank you," she said, "I feel lighter now", and promptly fell asleep.

Hermione stroked her long, dirty blonde hair and tried to keep from crying herself. Luna had been keeping that in for two years, and who knows how long she would have had to keep it in otherwise. She was so scared of losing her father, like she lost her mother. Who knows what would have happened to her…

Hermione finally gave in, and cried over her new friend, who was fast asleep in her arms.

A few minutes later, Rowena walked in, and set down next to the two. Luna's eyes were puffy, and she was softly snoring. Hermione whispered to Rowena, "she needs to see the mind healer. I can listen, but I can't help her."

"You already have, far more than you know", Rowena whispered back, "But you're right. She needs to see the mind healer. I will set up appointments for her. Please don't worry too much about her, she will be alright."

Rowena scooped her gently off of Hermione, and Luna squirmed a bit to get comfortable against the new body. "Mummy," she muttered softly, and snuggled in and went to sleep again.

"Shhh", Rowena said softly, and took Luna to her quarters, beckoning Hermione to come with her.

When they arrived, Rowena told Hermione to lay down, and then put Luna in her arms. "Just let her sleep," Rowena said, "and maybe take a nap of your own. I don't want her to wake up alone, not after what she just went through."

Luna squirmed a bit, and got comfortable, spooning against Hermione. Hermione pulled Luna close to her and just let her sleep. She stroked Luna's hair softly and whispered, "I'm so sorry no one has been there for you", and kissed the back of Luna's head. Luna smiled in her sleep.

Finally, she started to doze, herself. Luna smelled like fresh water and berries. It was a very pleasant smell. It was a good while until Luna woke up, and she was glad that Hermione had stayed with her. It would have been awful to have woken up alone after what she had just gone through. She snuggled close to Hermione. If this is what having a friend is like…

Yeshua's voice ran through her head. "Not friend, Luna. Sister. I declare it. I brought you together. She needs you as much as you need her. Take care of her, too."

Luna's heart leaped. A sister was even better. She smiled to herself, grabbed Hermione's hand, and just laid there, enjoying the feeling of finally having someone to share things with. Even the bad things. Even the horrible things.

A/N:

No this will NOT be a Hr/LL fic. Sisters was a very carefully chosen word, and that is what they will be from now on. Both of them are lonely in their own way. If you haven't figured it out, this entire chapter was dedicated to getting Luna into the picture and cementing her relationship with Hermione. I couldn't let Luna suffer for another year, I just couldn't. And since I'm the author, I figured out how to make it happen and still advance the story. And Xenophilus gets some indirect help as well, too. He does need a mind healer but I'm going to let the Weasleys, and maybe Rowena, handle that one. All will turn out for the best, as nothing was an accident. Yeshua does not need Harry to advance all of his plans, as is becoming very obvious. Harry is the bludgeon Yeshua chose to get a lot of processes kickstarted, but he's being very active in other ways as well. Sometimes even without peoples' knowledge, like the Weasleys.

There are other things happening while this chapter is going on. I'll cover them separately. I didn't want this chapter to bounce around too much. This chapter had exactly one topic, and I'll leave it there, even though it's a bit short.

BTW, in this story, I am treating Mr. and Mrs. Weasley neutrally. For this story, I see them as a typical family, mostly good but with a few dark secrets, as most families have if they were to be honest. Mrs. Weasley is overbearing as she is in canon, but there's no malicious intent, she just wants what's best for her family, even if she does sometimes put her loyalty where it doesn't belong.

You will notice that sometimes I use first names when referring to characters. It's mostly because I can't bring myself to say "Ravenclaw said" or "Lovegood said". They address each other properly in the dialogue, but I don't have to follow that convention, so I often don't. I just do what I feel most comfortable with.

Oh, and one other thing. Luna wasn't being entirely fair to Ginny. But she is ten years old as well, and she had a point, anyway. Maybe Ginny will grow up a little because of this.


	3. Judges

A/N: A couple of things really quick. I have a broad timeline for this story but the honest truth is I have no idea which day it is in the story. I don't know which day DADA is, but I kind of use the weekend to reset. To me, which day it is isn't really important as long as I don't get myself into a time paradox and unmake the whole Universe. Some authors are really picky about those details, and I completely understand, but the whole story spans centuries, both before and after, so which day it is on the micro scale gets lost in the shuffle.

Second, to respond to a review publicly: There is currently no pairing, I have not decided on a pairing, and I have not even decided whether there _will_ be a pairing. The main characters of the story in the summary are just the four most important, but if I could, I'd have a list of about ten. I'm not concerned about it in the slightest right now - even though some don't act like it sometimes, the main characters are no older than 12 (I know Hermione is older than Harry, but I don't think by a whole year. I should look it up). It's not even on their minds, nor should it be. It's not unnatural for children that age to have little crushes (Ginny is a bit overboard but not unusual, IMO), but some fanfics go way overboard on that. I won't, and I refuse to. That's not to say they'll always wait for marriage and/or adulthood, either. Just not 11. Ew.

And lastly, I repeat: I *strongly* recommend that you read the first book in this series first. Otherwise things in this book are going to come out of seemingly nowhere.

Well, enough about that. Storytime, if I haven't driven everyone off already.

**Defense Against the Dark Arts**

The class was already in their seats when Flamel arrived. Nearly all of the first year students had decided that this was their favorite class by far, as not only did Flamel seem to know what he was talking about, but he was teaching them things that they thought were extremely useful. Lumos without a wand or incantation? Cool!

"Alright, let's get started", and Flamel clapped his hands. "Did everyone pair up with a partner and do the experiments I suggested?" The class nodded. "Good. I will set up a ward right here, in front of the desk", and a spherical, transparent ball of magic appeared. "I want you to come up two at a time, show me your experimental records like I asked you to make, and then show me what you have each managed to accomplish and/or discover. Do it within this ward, please. It will protect you if you accidentally do something dangerous."

Two at a time, they came up, and demonstrated their balls of light. A pattern soon became obvious - those raised in a non-magical setting were much more adventurous. The purebloods did exactly as they were told, but the others pushed just that little bit past the envelope. One group made ultraviolet and infrared light, which the Professor quickly told them to extinguish. One group made a light so bright that the ward turned black just to protect them from it, and some had tested how fast they could make it move, except they couldn't do it because of the ward. Apparently some groups had actually had impromptu races, seeing which group could make the ball of light go faster.

After they all sat down, Flamel looked the class over. "Well, that was interesting, and not too far from what I expected. To those of you who stayed strictly within the bounds of experimenting how I told you, thank you for listening, and I am quite disappointed in you. To those of you who experimented past what I told you to do into territories that were, frankly, dangerous, thank you for taking the initiative, and I am quite disappointed in you. In fact, I am quite disappointed in the whole class. Who can tell me why?"

Everyone lowered their eyes and didn't raise their hands.

"No one?"

He surveyed the class.

"I am disappointed in the entire class because either you didn't attempt to push the envelope, or because you did and didn't understand what you were doing. What I was _hoping_ to see was a little bit of pushing the envelope, and then an explanation of either why you didn't push it further or an understanding of what you had done, demonstrating that you understood what results to expect. I would have then asked you if you had taken appropriate precautions. If you had then said yes, you would have gotten points. None of you will lose them, but none of you will gain them either.

"Those on the magic-raised side did not know the envelope could be pushed. Your understanding of light is limited entirely to what you could see - if you couldn't see it, it didn't exist, so you didn't even try. Those on the other side of the coin did indeed know the envelope could be pushed, but you didn't understand the dangers of pushing that envelope. I'm surprised that some of you still have your eyesight!"

Hermione raised her hand. He acknowledged her.

"Professor, I disagree and I think that's unfair. I stayed within the bounds of what you told us to do because I recognized _exactly_ how dangerous it could be if we strayed from the experiments you told us to do. I don't want to say what the possibilities are in public, but I know that that particular magic could have been _extremely_ dangerous and was being very careful with it."

Flamel chuckled. "I believe you, Miss Granger. You are absolutely correct that with a few tweaks, that I will not name in public either, that the experiment we just tried could have been very dangerous indeed - far more dangerous than even any of you pushing the envelope did. Your caution is commendable. But since you understood what the consequences of messing with this magic could have been, why did you not take suitable precautions?"

Hermione responded, with just a hint of defiance, "We haven't been taught the magic that would have allowed us to take those precautions, and suitable non-magical equipment, such as goggles and skin protection, were not provided."

Flamel nodded. "Alright, five points to Ravenclaw. You raise a valid point. I will work on acquiring personal protection equipment for any further experiments. Actually I was rather hoping that someone would raise that point. I sent you off to do experiments without establishing proper safety protocols, and no one questioned me. Those who didn't push the envelope were perfectly safe, but learned nothing new. Those who did were endangering themselves because they didn't understand the dangers of what they were doing. You may have learned something new, but at a cost to yourself. From now on, when doing any experiments, I expect you to create and follow a safety protocol to protect yourselves from any foreseeable danger. You will provide that protocol to me as well as the experiment log. If you can demonstrate reasonable caution, I will forgive most envelope pushing. _Most_. Accidents may still happen, but with reasonable caution and supervision, you should be at minimal danger.

"Remember, this kind of magic is _far less forgiving_ than wanded magic, and I expect you to treat it accordingly

"For the moment, you have demonstrated sufficient proficiency that you may use this magic to produce _visible_ light of any color, at a reasonable intensity, at any time it's needed without precautions. Please refrain from shows in the Great Hall, though. I haven't yet taught this to upper years, and I wish to do that in my own way. If you wish to create light that is not visible, _see me first_. If Hogwarts or I catch you doing experiments with this kind of magic that produce anything dangerous without our sanctions, you will not last long here. Am I clear?"

The class nodded, some visibly frightened.

Flamel softened a little. "I am sorry to have to be so strict about this, but believe me - the more you understand, the more you will understand exactly why. Trust me for now, these restrictions are not me trying to keep you from having fun. They're literally to keep you from harming or killing yourselves or others."

A Hufflepuff raised her hand. "Then what _can_ you explain?", she asked, sounding just a little annoyed. "I don't think it's fair to teach us how to do this, tell us how dangerous it is, and then just leave it there. Frankly that just makes us really scared to do even what we know how to do."

Flamel paused. "That's a fair point, and a fair question too." He thought for a moment. "Let me see if I can explain it without giving you a blueprint on how to do something stupid. Back in my early days, five hundred years ago, we understood a great deal about the nature of magic, but nothing whatsoever about the nature of even a simple thing like light. We never felt the need to. Magic gave us the ability to create light, and have other effects besides that were very useful, so we felt no need to investigate that. So all of our magic was oriented towards creating visible light, because that's all we knew about. The non-magicals, however, did investigate that. As I said in a previous lesson, they learned a great deal about how light works, figured out what it actually is, and learned far more than we do about the nature of light. It turned out, after hundreds of years of experimentation and theorizing on their part, that light is actually a small part of a much broader phenomenon. Visible light in itself isn't harmful, but some other things that are so closely related to light that they could be created by the same or similar magic, can be. As long as you stick to what you've been taught is safe, there is absolutely no danger and do not fear using that magic. I'm only concerned with going outside the bounds of what you have been taught without understanding the potential dangers of doing so. This is just a simple light spell and it already has the potential to be dangerous. Imagine when we start diving far deeper into the mysteries of magic. I need to make sure safety is paramount from the beginning so that when we do dive deeper, you already understand what and what not to do. You can do with a thought what it would, and did, take non-magicals a lot of money and heavy machinery to do. Does that answer your question?"

The Hufflepuff nodded.

"You actually have it far better, in a sense, compared to five hundred years ago. Those dangers would never have crossed our minds. It was the non-magicals who discovered them. If you were to read a non-magical science book, with which I have stocked the library as of yesterday, you might understand a little bit more of how light works and why it can be dangerous. I encourage you to read more about it and understand, but as I said, _do not experiment_ without bringing your proposal to me Don't be afraid to do so, by the way. The worst I will say is no, and then I will tell you exactly why. Any more questions?"

The room was silent. Some students looked a little sullen, a few others a little scared, but most seemed to understand what Flamel was trying to get across. Flamel made note of the ones who didn't and made a note to speak to them soon one on one. It was that important.

"Now let us talk about another interesting topic: spells. What do you think a spell is? Anyone?"

A Ravenclaw raised his hand. "It's something you cast that does something to what you cast it on."

Flamel nodded. "That's an answer, but not really the correct one. Anyone else?"

The class was silent.

"A spell has three requirements. An origin, a desired effect, and a destination. In wanded magic, the wand is the origin, the desired effect is specified by the parameters of a spell, and the destination is that which the wand is pointed at. What do you think a spell is made of?"

Hermione raised her hand. "Light?," she asked.

"You'd think so at first appearance, but no, not even close. Spells can appear as light, but they are not. First of all, light is much faster than a spell. That's why you can see one coming and dodge it. Second of all, there is no known property of light that could cause it to have a magical effect, if you don't count seeing as magical. Perhaps it is, at that, but not in this context.

Light is the _side effect_ of a spell, but it is not made of light. What is it made of?"

Hermione tried again. "Magic?"

Flamel clapped his hands. "There you go. A spell is made of magic. It is not a beam of magic, rather it is magic propagating across a magical field in such a way as to find the shortest path to its target, notwithstanding any obstructions. The light is caused as a side effect of the magic propagation, though I must confess even in our prime five hundred years ago we did not understand the mechanism through which the propagation of magic creates light. We still don't know, though I imagine the answer would be fascinating."

The look of greed in Hermione's eyes was unmistakable.

"Magic propagates the desired effect of its spell until it hits something that is not air. The magic of the object it hits then, itself, attempts to acquiesce to the demands of the request that is being imposed upon it. Sometimes this is not possible, for example, if someone were to cast the entrail-expelling curse on a chair. That would have undefined results, perhaps not good for the chair, but certainly not what the curse was intended to do.

"However, magic will also stop propagating, in most cases, when it hits a shield that is capable of stopping it. Some shields are more effective against certain spells, depending on what the purpose of the spell is and the purpose of the shield. A simple shield whose purpose to protect the person behind the spell from being damaged is usually enough to stop a curse that's designed to cause the damage, though both spells - the offensive spell and the shield - both suffer damage. If the offensive spell is not being maintained, it unravels. As shields are maintained, they take less obvious damage but weaken because the magic of both the spell and the shield cancel each other out. This is why there are different kinds of spells, and different kinds of shields. Any questions so far?"

There were no questions.

"So, can anyone tell me why the unforgivables can't be blocked, given what I've just told you?"

There was some thinking, and a Ravenclaw raised her hand. "Is it because there are no shield spells that require a strong emotion to function?"

"Five points to Ravenclaw", Flamel clapped happily. "That's exactly why. That is why you can't block the unforgivables - with _wanded_ magic", Flamel said conspiratorially.

"Miss Granger, please step up to the front," Flamel said, and waited patiently as she did so.

"Now I want you to close your eyes, and I am going to cast a spell a few centimeters to either direction of your head. It is a harmless spell. Please get into the same state of feeling the flow of magic that you do when you're about to create a ball of light."

After a few seconds, she nodded. He waited about ten seconds, and then wordlessly shot the spell off to her left.

Her eyes popped open. "What was that?"

"That, Miss Granger, was the feeling of a spell disrupting the magic flowing around you. Now please close your eyes again and become aware of the magic around you."

She did so, and this time he fired a spell directly at her, one that fizzled out about one foot from her.

She stumbled backwards. "That… that did not feel good. What was it?"

"I fired a spell at you. It was going to hit you but I stopped it at the last moment. Nearly no one knows how to do that, by the way. What you felt was the 'pressure wave', for want of a better word, of a spell approaching you. You all need to get used to that feeling and learn to dive out of the way, shield, or unravel the spell, on instinct. I will be teaching you this skill over the next few classes.

"I assume that you have learned simple charms in your charms class, correct?"

The class nodded."

"Good. Practice sending a harmless charm (and _make sure it's harmless_) to either side of your study partner to get a good grasp of the feeling it causes as it goes by. You can also practice with simple jinxes to see if you can detect the 'pressure wave', if you are capable of casting them. Your other homework until the next class is to stay in your "magic awareness" mode as much as possible and note down any disturbances you detect and their possible causes. Next class you will present your notes and your observation of how spells cast at or near you _feel_ when your magical senses are activated. Please also continue to practice your light spell with a partner. There are no particular precautions to take with this experiment, except making sure whatever spells you practice with are harmless. Perhaps Professor Flitwick might have a suggestion or two. Class dismissed. Miss Granger, stay behind please."

Hermione looked anxious. She thought she was in trouble.

After everyone filed out, he invited her to have a seat, and he took one next to her.

"Miss Granger, today we are expecting a special guest to the school. Your job will be to give her a tour of the castle and make sure she is comfortable during her stay here. Who she is, I'm not at liberty to say, but I think the both of you will get along just fine. You are excused from your classes for the rest of the day."

Hermione smiled. "I'd be happy to."

"Good. I must be off to collect her now. Go see Lady Ravenclaw and she will give you a few more details. Please be waiting in the Entrance Hall in around half an hour. Don't be alarmed if I am a little late."

Hermione nodded, and they both walked out of the classroom.

**Amelia Bones' Office**

Having made an appointment with Minister Bones, Harry, in his "Champion disguise," faded into her office at the appointed time, which was just after dinner. There was little reaction from her, as she was expecting him. Her office was actually the minister's office, as she had indeed been appointed interim minister, though she hadn't had a chance to do much but remove Fudge's old decorations. So it was a rather sparse office.

He took a seat, and she said, primly, "What can I help you with, Champion?"

Harry sighed. "Madame Bones, I have showed you the biggest secret of Hogwarts, and a very small amount of that is being taught to the first years at the moment. Nicolas is trying to figure out how to teach it to the upper years while leaving those who might misuse it ignorant for the time being. He is teaching a type of magic that, frankly, wanded users have little defense for."

Her ears perked up, and her face became stern. "I'm listening."

"I have spent a great deal of time in conference with Yeshua, and others much more experienced than I, trying to figure out how to make sure that when this knowledge gets loose - and it will, as it cannot stay within the halls of Hogwarts, that the rule of law is still maintained. Please know that this is very high on the list of _all_ of our priorities. But it's a tough problem to solve, because as it stands now your aurors would be useless against this type of magic, and it would be difficult for them to control it, even if they were trained. The biggest reason is that it's _impossible_ to remove a person's ability to use magic when they have been trained on how to do it wandlessly."

Minister Bones sat back in her seat and looked resigned. "Do you mind if I speak frankly, Champion?"

"Not at all," he said. "Despite my powers, I actually have very little interest in using them unless necessary. You need fear neither me nor my Lord."

She sighed. "And that, small blessing as it is, is indeed a blessing. Perhaps Yeshua chose well. You can be a rampaging dragon when you need to, but would prefer not to. I appreciate that. Yet, to the point.

"Ever since you have came upon the scene you have completely upended the social order of this country -"

"The world, actually," he interrupted. "There is at least one of me for every country."

She put her head in her hands. "Well, that just makes it all that much better," she said sarcastically. "As I was saying, you have completely upended the social order of this country, and I'm honestly not sure how we're going to recover from what you've done to it." She held up her hand. "I understand _why_ you did it, Champion. Please don't mistake me. A part of me approves of the things that you have done, and your final goals are beyond reproach. But you've put me in a very bad spot - I will very soon be utterly unable to enforce the law, and this is entirely by your doing. Azkaban was evil, yes. I agree with you. It was even an abomination. But it _worked_. What do you have for me now? Just more problems that I don't have a solution to."

Harry was quiet for a while. The Minister just rubbed her temples. She looked like she wanted to say more but was holding back.

"That's why I'm sitting here now," he said quietly. "I share your concerns and, as I said, have discussed this at great length with others far more experienced and powerful than I - and you _know_ the resources that I have access to. Please do not think of me as an enemy or an agent of chaos. Your concerns are at the top of my mind right now, and significant thought has been put into how to solve them."

She waved as if she didn't even care anymore. "Then, by all means, what do you have for me?"

"I want to run an idea past you. We do not intend to _impose_ this idea, per se, but it is the only workable one all of our different people have been able to come up with, and we think it would make your job actually quite a bit easier. If you have any input, please speak candidly."

"Alright," she said, "but just a moment." She poured herself a glass of firewhiskey and downed it in one shot. Steam poured out of her ears and she relaxed just a bit. "Go ahead."

"So, as we see it, the big problem that you are soon going to encounter is the lack of ability to bring people to justice. You will be able to investigate crimes pretty well still, but there is no prison that will hold someone who has unlimited access to magic and does not need a wand. Is this how you see the problem so far?"

"Pretty close, yes. If our prisons can't hold them, and the veil is off limits, and our spells have no effect on them, then what can we do? People will be running around with impunity."

"Normally, minister, you'd be correct. But you forget one of my authorities. I can invoke judgement. I cannot _pronounce_ judgement, but I can invoke it. And there is no reason that Yeshua can't grant that ability to others as well. In fact, he is willing to. Here is what he is willing to do.

"Yeshua is willing to grant the authority to invoke his judgement to seven people in this country. It will always be seven. If one retires or dies, then another will be raised to take his or her place. Only one person will be required to invoke judgement on anyone accused. They will not have the same authority that I do with regards to magic, but they would have the authority to summon people for judgement, to temporarily remove their ability to use magic until judgement is invoked, and if necessary, to invoke judgement remotely.

"But along with this come some caveats. The first caveat is that the wizengamot will continue to have the authority to pass local laws, but the judgements invoked may nullify those laws, and the nullifications would then be binding. This means that the wizengamot would only have the right to pass laws that are not unjust or unrighteous, as _Yeshua_ sees it. This means that there would be some local autonomy, but the ultimate authority would be ceded to Yeshua as far as judgement goes. It would take some time to feel that out, I'm sure, and Yeshua is very patient as long as people aren't deliberately trying to pull one over on him. He recognizes the need for government and is not opposed to it, as long as it's _righteous_ government.

"The second caveat is that those who would bring someone for judgement would need to have at least a reasonable reason for believing that judgement is necessary. This does not mean that law enforcement would even necessarily need to know who did something, but that any actions taken by law enforcement that are flagrantly unreasonable may cause judgement to rebound on the accuser.

"The third caveat is that Yeshua may judge in entirely unexpected ways sometimes. Yeshua is an absolutely impartial judge. He may in some cases decide to let someone off in ways that seem far too lenient. He may instead judge someone else in their place. He may consider a matter too trivial to actually invoke any meaningful judgement on, even if it technically breaks a law. He may even invoke death for situations that don't seem to call for it. Not even those invoking judgement will know how the judgement will turn out. But Yeshua is extremely fair, and often merciful. The bloodlust of revenge is something that will have to be left behind.

Do you understand what I'm proposing so far?"

The Minister sat back. "Let me see if I understand, I'll try to summarize. We get seven judges, any of which can invoke Yeshua's judgement. He will respect local law unless he feels it unjust, thus leaving a place for the Wizengamot. We will no longer need prisons, lawyers, or prosecutors - as such, anyway. In return, we give up the right to make our own judgements, Yeshua's judgements are final, and he may judge in ways that we may not expect or agree with, even if they are just. We also cannot bring people for judgement that we don't suspect did anything just to harass them, even if we may call people for judgement based upon what they did even if we don't know who they are. Is that the long and short of it?"

Harry nodded. "Pretty much."

The Minister pinched the bridge of her nose and poured herself another glass of firewhiskey.

"The wizengamot won't like this."

"You've been frank, Minister, so let me be frank in return. They're lucky they're keeping as much autonomy as they are. Yeshua is making a concerted effort to not disrupt this society more than he absolutely has to. But until very recently, they were an extremely corrupt body who allowed many miscarriages of justice to occur with no concern whatsoever as long as it appeared that they were doing something. He does not think very highly of them as a body, though most of the truly dark elements were rooted out when the Death Eaters died. We're willing to allow the wizengamot to continue to be the lawmaking body of Britain. We just want to add some checks and balances so what was happening before the Death Eaters died will never happen again."

She sighed. She was thinking of Sirius. "I don't like it. But try as I might, I can't think of a better option, particularly considering the magic that is about to be unleashed on the world. We need more power than we have for ourselves to be helping us. I'll back you."

"Thank you, minister. It is my hope that eventually the judges will be seen as someone to be feared only by those who have reason to fear judgement, and as an instrument of mercy and justice to everyone else. No innocent person should fear judgement. I will make the announcement at the next invocation of the Wizengamot. If you could please ensure I have some time on the schedule, I would much appreciate it. You may introduce me as the "Emissary of Magic" - I will use the word "magic" instead of "Yeshua" when announcing this, as they are one and the same and many will find leaving Yeshua's name out of it less intimidating for the time being."

"Understood. I believe you have many Lordships at the moment and can claim them legitimately, being the last heir of your line, so you could do this yourself."

"I could. But as my other self, I would have to 'out' myself, so to speak, and I simply have not had time to take care of all the legalities yet. I will do so in due time. It has actually just become far less important for me to do so, as having to push back against unjust laws has just become a thing of the past in a very real way.

"While I am here, is there anything you wish to discuss with me?"

The Minister thought. "Is there any way my aurors could get training with this 'new magic'? I understand it's less necessary than before, but I would still like to at least understand what we're facing and not be completely defenseless against it."

Harry thought, and Yeshua had some insights as well. "A reasonable request, Minister. I shall make arrangements. But I will need to meet each of these aurors myself. I can do so as my alternate personality if necessary, or with a fictitious name. Those that I deem unfit will not receive the training, and you would actually do well to remove them from the force. Yeshua will allow me to invoke a modified judgement on them that only I will be privy to, and I will give you the results. The ones that do not pass judgement should not be trusted with this responsibility. I will also ensure that you receive the teaching as well. Is this fair to you?"

"Actually, I've been wondering who on the force is trustworthy. They were one of the few in the Ministry to escape judgement the last time you rampaged through here." She chuckled darkly. She wasn't entirely joking. "It's more than fair. I'll make arrangements with Scrimgeour."

"Thank you. If there is nothing else, I have other matters to address. I must confess to being quite hungry." He smiled. "I will keep you up to date. Thank you for your time, Minister."

He faded out.

Minister Bones downed the glass of firewhiskey. Damn him for making her life so difficult. But she had to admit, he had style and he did seem to care. He came bearing solutions, even if sometimes they were worse than the problem. Which was more than she could say for most of her staff.

**Luna's Quarters**

Luna and Hermione had finally woken up, and she was sitting on Hermione's lap. She just didn't seem to want to leave. It was like she'd finally found something she had been looking for all her life and didn't want to give it up, even for a moment. Hermione had called a house elf - distasteful as she might find it - and asked it politely to bring dinner for her and Luna, as they had missed the start of dinner in the Great Hall. Besides, Luna was in no shape to be seen anyway. Her eyes were puffy, her nose was red, and she still sniffled a little bit, but she was in much better shape than she was when she was in the Room of Requirement.

"You know that room was fake, right? It was only a copy," Hermione said, quietly.

Luna nodded. "I know now. But it didn't matter then. It was my house and my daddy wasn't there. I was so terrified."

"How long have you been holding that in?"

Luna shrugged. "I don't know. Since my mummy died. I've been scared to death the nargles will tell me my daddy is going to die too."

"Why would they tell you that?"

"They don't deal in feelings, just facts. They never lie, but they aren't concerned with how the truth can make you feel. What they say can hurt sometimes. Maybe the teachers can teach me how to ignore them."

"If you want to eat, you have to get off my lap, Luna."

She did so, but very reluctantly. She pressed up against Hermione's side while they both ate.

"Why are you so… cuddly… all of a sudden, Luna? You've only known me a few days."

Luna smiled. "I've never had a sister. I've always thought that sisters hugged and cuddled and held each other if they needed to… and told each other secrets and were always there even if no one else is."

"Sister?"

"Oh, didn't Yeshua tell you?"

"Tell me what?"

"He made us sisters. In all but blood, and maybe in blood too, I don't know. Certainly in magic."

"Not that I don't want to be your sister, Luna… but… why would he do that?"

Luna shrugged. "Because you need me as much as I need you. His words."

Hermione sighed. "I guess I can see that. I've never had a sister or even friends. My parents loved me, but it was a lonely life. Everyone bullied me for being a 'bookworm'"

Luna smiled brightly. "You have one now." She reached up and kissed Hermione on the cheek. "Sister."

They both went back to eating, Hermione not unhappy but a little pensive, and Luna's heart was soaring.

That night, they changed into their pajamas and slept in the same bed. Luna was like a nice-smelling teddy bear for Hermione, and Hermione was the warmth she had lost when her mummy died. Luna knew Hermione was not a replacement - she was a smart girl and that was too much to put on Hermione's shoulders, but it was something. They knew that wouldn't be allowed every night, but no one interfered that night. And the two brand new sisters slept soundly. Just before going to sleep, Hermione thought that Luna filled a hole in her heart she didn't even know she had. And that was a very pleasant thought with which to go to sleep.

**Great Hall, at the same time**

The Golden Four were sitting at the Slytherin table today. It was usually the Golden Five, but Hermione was missing tonight. He would have been worried, but Rowena had told him earlier that she had an important task to do today. He was glad that they were giving her some responsibility, he was starting to feel concerned that she was being left out.

Daphne pulled a letter out of her robe pocket, and handed it to Harry with a noticeable blush. "From my father," she said. "It's a formal invitation to come to dinner this weekend. Don't worry too much about it. My father and grandfather hashed it out and he has come to realize that your lack of knowledge of our ways is due to circumstances beyond your control. He has promised to be forgiving. But you should formally accept anyway. Making an effort goes a long way with him," she said primly.

He nodded. "I don't have any plans for this weekend anyway, so that is fine. We need to clear it with our Head of House, though."

"First lesson", she said. "Family matters come first. And because of our particular… family matter… we need only tell her when we're leaving and returning."

"Ah, good to know," he said. "Of course, I have a few tricks up my sleeve anyway, even if she said no."

"And someday you will tell me," she said, matter-of-factly. "But in your own time." She smiled.

Kamiko and John shared a knowing look. Harry tried to keep a straight face. Of the "Golden Five", there were many, many things about Harry that Daphne did not know. Or suspect. Or even come close to suspecting. If that marriage contract turned into anything, he would have to find someone to get a photo of her face when he told her.

And then maybe get a divorce lawyer. Which, frankly, was a possibility that concerned him about anyone who wasn't Kamiko or Hermione. His secrets were very, very big secrets.

But he was eleven. He had no real desire for any of them at the moment. And he was pretty sure the feeling was mutual, even though he'd heard that girls mature faster. So he was just treating it as a "see where it goes" kind of thing. Mr. Greengrass might be good to have around, though, especially with his upcoming announcement to the wizengamot. Which would thrust him-not-him thoroughly back into the news yet as Yeshua asserted control over yet another part of the British wizarding world.

His sole consolation was that there were two hundred other people who had to solve the same types of problems. At least it wasn't all on his shoulders.

John asked Kamiko, "Do you miss Japan?"

Kamiko took a couple of moments to think. "I think so," she said quietly. "I miss home. I miss seeing Fujisan in the distance. I miss the electric trains and the _shinkansen_. I miss speaking Japanese. I miss being around people that look like me - no offense intended, of course."

Harry nodded. None taken.

"But Scotland is beautiful. As I've said, your nature spirits are strong here. There is no pollution, no noise, when you go outside you can hear the birds sing and the wind going through the leaves. I don't know if I want to live here," she said, sadly. "But it is a good place to be."

"Why wouldn't you want to live here?", John asked.

"It's not home," she said simply. "My home is Japan.

"What about you, John? Do you miss Texas?", she asked.

John stopped to think. "Sometimes. Like you say, it's home. But it's not pretty like Scotland. In Japan you have.. Fujisan? Mt. Fuji? And forests and all sorts of natural beauty, even though it does seem like a lot of people crammed together. But Texas… we have some large cities. Dallas, Houston, Austin, San Antonio, Fort Worth, but they're all on the eastern side of the state. It's hot and flat and while it can be beautiful, like when the bluebonnets and other flowers come out in spring and the entire land looks like a purple painting, there's not much there. It's dry and dusty and… it's still home.", he said with the same sadness that Kamiko had in her voice. "It's pretty here. The hills are green and the water is clear and the air is clean. I could live here," he said. "But it's still not home."

"Maybe home is where the heart is," Kamiko said, and squeezed his hand briefly.

"And where is your heart?", John asked.

"I don't know," she said. "Japan for now". She lowered her head. "But maybe not forever."

John smiled. "I think I agree. Texas for now. But maybe not forever."

Daphne and Harry shared a meaningful glance. There were subtexts there that might as well have been flashing over their heads with a giant neon sign saying "CUTE CRUSHES HERE", but they decided to just let it go. No point in embarrassing them.

Kamiko looked up. "Oh, by the way, Harry. There's something I need to tell you soon."

Harry looked curious, but a little apprehensive. The last time she'd told him something, it had led to the destruction of Azkaban and the judgement of an entire underworld organization. What rocks were she going to turn over this time?

He was right to be apprehensive as she definitely had a rock to turn over.

A/N: Okay I'll let this chapter go on a cliffhanger, if a mild one. I will say that the rock she is about to turn over is entirely predictable and with a little thought you should be able to figure out what it is. But if not, all will be revealed soon. First review with the correct answer gets a virtual cookie.

A reviewer for the last story made the comment that Harry was running roughshod over magical Britain. Another one said he was too super. Harry is really careful how he uses his power and authority, and is becoming even more careful. There will still be times when he needs to be a rampaging dragon, but he's actively trying to keep them to a minimum. Yeshua is wise and knows that too much rampaging incites active rebellion. He'll win, but the cost goes down the less unrest he causes. That's one reason why the Wizengamot is not being dissolved, and will even still have useful tasks to do. Removing it entirely would cause too much damage in the short term.

Luna will meet the rest of the crowd soon. She can't be a part of the "Golden Six" until next year, but they will all ensure that she is not lonely.

I hope you enjoy Nick's lessons. The interesting part to me is that I'm not really deviating all that much from canon. I'm just exploring parts of magical theory that very few people are thinking about. Like why, exactly, DO spells looks like beams of light? I'm going to explore that further in future chapters. But now it's bedtime and this chapter is finally done. Hope you enjoy.

Honestly I feel like I'm driving people away, but as I said, it's the story I want to write.


	4. Lamentations

**Introspection**

**Rowena Ravenclaw's Office**

Kamiko and John indeed had a rock to turn over, and a big one. Harry wasn't honestly sure he could leave this one until morning, and it was not much after dinner, so he decided to knock on Rowena's door and see if she was still in her office. She was. Her only "official" duty at Hogwarts was Head of House for Ravenclaw, so she had her office as an extension of her quarters. He knocked on the door, and after a few moments, heard "enter!", so he opened the door and walked in.

"What can I help you with, Harry?" she asked, seemingly hastily arranging her robes. And was her face a little red? Oh well. It was that important.

"I'm sorry to bother you at this hour, Rowena, but John and Kamiko have made me aware of an issue that you may not be aware of that is an extreme security risk to this school, in my opinion."

She sighed. "Well, if you're right, inviting you in was certainly the right thing to do," she said, though there was a slight look of frustration on her face that she was obviously trying very hard to hide. "What is it?"

"According to them, there is a sixty foot basilisk living under the school."

The look of frustration on her face disappeared and she became all business. "Oh, I know. Fifty years ago it caused quite a kerflufffle. Riddle opened the chamber and one girl was killed. But the Chamber of Secrets is just outside the wards, I don't know where it is specifically and can't get to it, and the headmaster at the time was as incompetent as most of the rest of them. He never even bothered asking me to help with the problem."

"I can get to it. I am the only one who can access the Chamber right now that I know of."

"Well," she said thoughtfully. "It's been lying dormant for fifty years, and a thousand before that, though that's typical Salazar buffoonery. That guy valued cunning and ambition, but he always seemed to choose the brute force method whenever possible." She shook her head. "Well, I think it can wait until the weekend. I'll get together a party to explore the Chamber and make sure the basilisk is not a threat then. I'm sure with you and me present, no harm is possible, but there are a couple of others I would like to come along as well. Once I find out where the chamber is I can expand the wards to cover it."

"I have plans Saturday evening, but otherwise I will be free."

"Saturday morning it is."

"One more question, Rowena?"

"Go ahead", she said, the slight look of frustration back on her face.

"Why is Peeves still allowed to roam the castle?"

"Who said he is? I kicked him out the moment I got full control of the wards. It's one thing for the castle to have personality, but that's just ridiculous."

He smiled. "I think I agree. I remember the sorting. What an introduction. Anyway, I will leave you to your business now. I will see you Saturday morning."

She smiled. As he walked out and closed the door, he heard the rustle of clothing and a faint "finally", followed by a sound he'd never quite heard come out of a woman before. He decided discretion was the better of valor and walked away quickly.

**Nicolas Flamel's Office**

Harry, after beating a fast retreat from something he didn't quite understand and wasn't sure he wanted to, decided to see if Nick was still in his office. As it turned out, he was, and was more than happy to chat with Harry for a while. Flamel loved teaching, but he saw Harry as more of an equal than a student, like he saw his wife and Rowena. Even though Harry, being eleven, _did_ have his facepalm moments.

"What's on your mind, kiddo?", Nick said. Being 649 years old gives you a bit of leeway, and Harry didn't mind.

"I spoke with Madam Bones today. She felt a little - no, a lot - like how I do about the situation. She realizes it's the best option considering the situation and she'll back us. Not that it really matters in the long run - Yeshua tends to get his way - but the less opposition, the better. I don't think he likes running roughshod over things if he can help it."

Nick nodded. "I really don't like it either, but it makes sense, and even though it takes some power away from the wizengamot, it's far fairer for everyone involved and they still get to feel important."

Harry sat thinking for a while. "Nick", he said slowly, as if picking his words carefully, "six hundred years ago the powers that we're just beginning to explore were pretty much common knowledge amongst wizards. Why did you not need this kind of solution then?"

Nick smiled, but there wasn't much humor present in his words. "Harry, what is Hogwarts?"

"It's a school."

"Of course it's a school, but that's not what I'm talking about. What is Hogwarts?"

Harry thought carefully about his answer. When Nick answered like this, he was usually trying to point out something so blindingly obvious that no one had thought about it.

"Hogwarts is a castle."

"Yes, it is that, too. Still not what I'm talking about. Alright, let me put this another way. Why would four wizards build a simple school with the kinds of defenses that this building has? They deliberately built it atop three ley lines, we've both seen the Heart of Hogwarts, and Rowena even went through the trouble and sacrifice of linking herself to the castle's wards. It is one of the most heavily defended and offensively powerful buildings in the world, and is almost impenetrable without taking some _extreme _measures, like, for example, choking off the ley lines until the magical batteries ran out days later. Which is possible, but was so difficult even when we were in our prime that no one bothered. Especially considering most of the most knowledgeable magic users were inside the school, researching and learning. A few people tried, but didn't get far. Some eventually gave up and ran. Those that didn't met messy ends. Why would the founders go through all of that trouble for a simple school?"

Harry thought for a while, then his eyes widened. "There was no social order to protect."

Nick nodded. "Not quite true, but true for our purposes. Six hundred years ago the magical world, at least in Britain, was feudal. Those with the most power, the most resources, and the most money got to make the rules. If you could manage to 'off' the most powerful wizard, then you got to be in charge, until someone got rid of you. Some dark lords went too far and were found dead in the remains of their own failed rituals, but in general, it was "every man for himself". So we didn't really need to worry about social unrest, they way we do now, because the concept of social unrest didn't matter. Too many people got pissed off at the ruler, and he wasn't the ruler anymore. Or alive. And there wasn't much the non-magicals could do in the face of a competent magic-user other than stay far away.

"But now, it's different. Out of that unrest came the Wizengamot and the current structure of Lords, etc. It's how we've managed to keep a civil society in a world where that kind of civil unrest lurks behind every wand. But the biggest difference now is, the non-magicals have almost caught up. They're very close to discovering magic. Oh, even if they do, it'll take them many years to figure out what it is and what to do with it, but we can't afford to have the kind of feudal social order we did six hundred years ago. It'd eventually spill over into the non-magical world, and as much arcane magic as I know, I wouldn't want to test it against a nuclear weapon. Even now, some would rather have that feudal social order back. That's why Riddle became as powerful as he was. Note that he was supported mostly by the wealthy and well-connected. That wasn't an accident."

"So basically, if we want to survive what's coming, we pretty much _must_ have Yeshua involved."

"Pretty much. Jesus is unimaginably powerful, but that's not the aspect of him that's going to save us this time. The aspect that's going to save us is his _fairness_. He knows and sees everything, so the need for trials is pretty much done away with. There's not going to be any more passing unjust laws, letting well-connected people get away, railroading innocent people, or people getting away with things because they're more powerful than everyone else… and that's going to be the glue that keeps our society from completely collapsing back into the feudal world that we've been teetering on the brink of for hundreds of years."

Harry sighed. "I still kind of wish we hadn't opened this can of worms."

"If we didn't, then the balance would shift towards the non-magicals. We truly don't understand how close they are to discovering secrets we didn't even know to look for. You know those dangers I keep harping about to the first years? I know I must sound like I'm exaggerating for effect, but I'm not. I'm absolutely, completely, not joking. A light spell can make high energy gamma rays. That's ionizing radiation - something only the non-magicals know about. It is extremely damaging to human tissue and can cause sickness and death, very quickly, if there's enough of it. The non-magicals had not discovered that when we hid the knowledge. Now they know far more about it then we do. It can also make microwaves. Non-magicals use that to cook food very quickly, at high enough power. The non-magicals had not discovered that either, and we didn't care. They have much at their disposal that we did not at the time, and do not now. If we can't bring our worlds together in a controlled manner, one will exterminate the other. And even with all of the power at our disposal, it's not a given that we will win. Do you see why this is so important?"

"Yes", Harry said, reluctantly. "I get it. But still…"

Flamel smiled, a real smile this time. "And that's probably why Yeshua chose you. Even with more power than possibly any living wizard, and certainly in Britain, you'd still give it up if you knew there wasn't a good reason for it. Even now, you'd rather not use it, when you could smush anyone who opposed you like a bug."

"If I did that, I probably wouldn't last long as a Champion."

"True, but you don't even want to. That counts for something, you know. Why don't you go to bed, Harry. The weekend's coming up, and Perenelle's expecting me," he said with a wink.

He remembered Rowena, and his face turned beet red. "Yes, I, er, should be going now. Give Perenelle your… er, I mean my… best", he said, and ran out the door before Flamel could say another word.

Nicolas laughed until he was wheezing. It usually wasn't that easy to get to Harry. Then, still chuckling, he went back to his quarters to tend to his wife.

**The Room of Requirement**

Having nothing better to do, Harry wandered over to the Room of Requirement. Even after talking to Nick, he was feeling very pensive, and if he were to be honest, even a little depressed. It wasn't really a crisis of faith so much as he just felt like he'd bitten off far more than he could chew. Many things hung in the balance, and he was entrusted with a great responsibility, and even though he knew that he was on the right path as long as he didn't think it was his doing, he was still feeling very much like something was going to go wrong and he just didn't see what.

'Yeshua, can we chat?", he asked, and as always, Yeshua faded in. That was the one thing Harry could count on right now, and he knew that it was something never to take for granted. He was probably one of only a very few people on the planet who had that kind of privilege, magical or non-magical.

"Sure", Yeshua said. "You know I'm always here."

"How do you always manage to immediately just… show up?"

"It's one of the mysteries of being me, I suppose. When I'm here, you have my full attention. Yet, there are many other people talking to me at the same time, through prayer or meditation or many other different ways, and they have my full attention too. Some things, only my Father knows how they truly work, but it is who I am."

"So you don't know everything?"

"Well, I'd say that depends on how you define 'everything'. If you're asking if I know absolutely everything about the Universe, how it works, everything that ever has happened or ever will happen, that's more my Father's business than mine. He is, after all the creator, and I am both the creator and the created. The created aspect of me comes with some limitations by nature, but even those are far above your comprehension. But if you're asking if I know everything that's currently happening, everything that I've ever experienced through people and even to some degree animals and other living creatures, then yes, I know everything there is to know.

"But this isn't really what's bothering you, is it?"

Harry was silent for a little while, and Yeshua conjured up some water and sipped contentedly. He seemed to be content to just let Harry think about what he wanted to say, and just waited patiently.

Finally, Harry spoke. "What's it like to be you?"

Yeshua chuckled. "Now there's a question. Do you know how few people ever bother to ask me that question? First of all, thank you for asking. Second of all, it's actually a very difficult question to answer, so let me think about it for a second."

A glass of water appeared next to Harry, and he sipped patiently. Yeshua chuckled. "Well played, Harry."

Finally, after a minute or two, Yeshua spoke.

"Here's the best answer that I think I can give you that you can understand. It is unimaginably horrible, and yet unimaginably beautiful to be me."

"What do you mean?"

Yeshua sighed. "If you knew the horrors that I see, that I experience, every second of every minute of every day, you would break. And I don't mean it would take you a while, either. You'd just immediately break. It's that bad, Harry. As bad as you think… well, know… people are, they're worse. The things they do to each other and to animals and the world are evil beyond comprehension. And the worst part is that I can't just step in and resolve everything. If I could, I would in a second, but that's not the order of things. People have to find their own way. If I were just a 'rampaging dragon', which seems to be a phrase that's finding more common use lately," he chuckled darkly, "Then it would fix the immediate problems but it doesn't solve the root problem. People would fear me, but the evil would still be there. It always is. It lurks in everyone. Even you, Harry."

"I'm not -"

"Don't get me wrong, Harry. In many ways, you're as good as they come, and you're young still. But don't tell me you wouldn't take nasty revenge on the Dursleys if I were to allow you to. If I were to say something like 'it's okay, just this once', you'd jump at the chance, wouldn't you?"

Harry lowered his head. He knew it was true.

"I mourn every death, Harry. Every single one. Even a pigeon that dies because it smashed into a window, I mourn it and I remember it. Even those deaths that must happen, even the deaths that are directly due to my judgement, Harry, I mourn them. I hate having to judge, Harry. It's my job, but I hate it.

"But then there's the other side of the coin. People fall in love and marry, and I get to bind their marriages, in magic as well as in spirit. New babies come into the world, and they get named, and I get to watch them take their first steps and start talking and doing all of the things children have to do to become adults. Children are very special to me, Harry. Yes, they have that potential for evil that every human does, but they're innocent in every sense of the word. They trust everything an adult tells them, and the sense of wonder that they have about the world somehow gets lost when people become adults. They become more jaded, more distrustful, and they stop being like children. And every time that happens, Harry, something precious is lost, and I mourn it as well."

"It sounds as if there is a lot of mourning," Harry said, sadly.

"It's part of my job, Harry. I especially mourn those who have no one to mourn for them.

"But you have to understand, Harry - that's why I did it in the first place. That's why I undertook the ritual that made me what I am. It's what people don't realize about me, most of the time. I experience all of the suffering, all of the mourning, all of the tears, so that, if they choose, they can, instead of letting the bad things break them, they can trust that I have seen, and I have heard, and I have felt, and I have experienced, and no life was ever forgotten or in vain."

Yeshua's eyes were actually brimming a little. "That's what it's like to be me, Harry. I gave _everything_ of myself, both during life and after, so those who trust me can be positive in all circumstances, knowing that I _know_."

"So why did you, even knowing what you would have to endure?", Harry asked.

Yeshua shrugged. "My Father asked me to. So I did."

"That's it?"

"That's it."

"No 'I get to change the world'?", Harry asked, astonished.

"Harry, during my life, I mean before the ritual, I was an outcast. I had a few close friends, and those in power _hated_ me. Even the people I healed were sometimes ungrateful. 'Birds have nests, and foxes have holes, but the son of man has no place to lay his head', I believe I said then. I was a wandering nomad, who was chased out of more places than I care to remember, even though throngs of people gathered to hear me speak like people dying of thirst to an oasis. Even the night before I was killed, in the garden of Gethsemane, I begged my Father to not make me have to go through with it. But it was his will, so I did. I could have stopped it. I could have called down the fires of heaven on them, and as magic willingly worked with me, they would have been destroyed. As I trusted my father, so I hope people will trust me."

"But they don't," Harry said.

"No, they don't. I'm _still_ an outcast. There are some people who will get offended if they even hear my name, and go out of their way to make life difficult for my followers, if they even care at all. They go their own way. I let them. And it leads to ruin every time. You don't even trust me, Harry", Yeshua said sadly.

Harry looked like he was about to protest, but then decided not to. Yeshua was right. He didn't. He lowered his head. "I'm sorry. I guess I don't."

Yeshua smiled, without humor but with a touch of amusement. "Then how, Harry, could you expect those who have never seen me to trust me, when you, who are sitting right across from me, talking to me, and knowing more about me than nearly all living people, can't? I don't. It's alright. Just trust me enough to do as I ask, and I'll try to answer your questions as best I can. I remember also saying that I would prefer someone who grumbles all the way and does as I ask, than one who snaps to attention, shouts 'Yes, Sir!', and then doesn't do it. Don't feel bad for not trusting me completely. That comes with time."

Yeshua smiled. "You have a visitor. You may want to go to the door and open it. I will take my leave now. Remember, I am always here." And he faded away.

Harry shrugged. His talk with Yeshua helped some, but he was still feeling pretty badly. So he got up and opened the door. A small girl with dirty-blonde hair was standing outside, patiently waiting.

"Harry Potter", she said, with a little wonder. "So that's why I was asked to come up here."

Harry was completely at a loss. "And you are?"

"Luna Lovegood, at your service," she said, and curtsied prettily. "May I come in?"

"How did you -"

"I'll explain when I'm inside. After all, you wouldn't leave a poor, defenseless girl like me out in the cold, would you?" She smiled, like she just told a joke only she got.

"Well then, by all means," he said, and she walked in, the door closing behind him.

"This room can be anything you want it to be?", she asked, knowing the answer.

"Yes," he said.

"Then this is pretty drab." She concentrated for a moment, and the room turned into a beautiful forest, with impossibly green trees and a burbling creek a few feet from where they were standing. They were standing in a clearing with short, well-trimmed grass, but the sun was dancing through the leaves of the trees, making pretty patterns on the clearing. The air was the perfect temperature and the breeze smelled faintly of berries and flowers. She sat down on the ground, cross-legged, and patted the ground next to her.

"Sit," she commanded, and he did.

"So you said you'd explain," Harry said.

She nodded. "I'm ten years old. I'm not a student yet. They brought me here because I have a very rare gift and they were concerned for my safety. Honestly, I think they were concerned for my safety in more than one way," she said sadly. She didn't elaborate. "I can see creatures of magic and speak to them."

"Isn't that something we all can do?"

"Not magical creatures. Creatures of magic. They exist entirely in the magical field. I am the only known living person who can see these creatures. The most useful ones at the moment I used to call 'nargles', but I learned that their real name is 'prophets'. They tell me things that are happening or about to happen. This is both a blessing and an unimaginable curse," she said sadly.

"But that doesn't explain how you knew about this room. It's supposed to be a secret."

"I was granted access by Lady Ravenclaw. My sister, Hermione, showed me how to enter. It is really a very useful room," she said with wonder.

Harry's mouth gaped. "Your sister?"

"Yes, my sister. Yeshua deemed it so, and I had always wanted a sister. We were both only children, and very lonely. I know she is my sister in magic. Whether in blood, I don't know. But it doesn't matter. I have a sister now." She smiled. "Yeshua asked me to come up to this room. I don't know why. But he's never yet been wrong."

Harry watched the small, colorful fish happily swimming through the creek. "This is truly an amazing room," he said.

She looked at him for the first time, truly _looked_ at him, and her eyes grew wide. "You are shining," she said. "Most people have a glow about them of a certain color, but it's usually not very bright. You are hard to look at," she said. "Are you one of Yeshua's chosen?"

He sighed. No secret was going to be safe with this girl. "I am one of the Champions of Yeshua", he said. "But it's a secret, very few people know, and you can't tell."

She nodded. "Everyone should have their secrets," she said. "And if Yeshua has chosen champions, things must be dire indeed."

"More than you know, Miss Lovegood."

"Call me Luna, please," she said. "Friends don't call people by their last name."

"But we -"

She put a finger to his lips. "Friends don't call people by their last name.", she repeated.

He gave up. "Then you can call me Harry."

"That's better," she said happily. "It is ever so nice to make new friends."

"You said your gift can be an unimaginable curse. Why?", he asked curiously.

"Because the prophets deal in facts. They don't care about feelings. They can deliver good news or bad news, and they do it in exactly the same way. Sometimes you can alter a tragedy based upon the news they bring. Often, you can't. And then you spend the rest of your life feeling guilty that you knew something would happen and were powerless to fix it."

Harry looked at her, his full attention on her. Her blonde hair was shifting in the breeze, and there were unshed tears in her eyes.

"That happened to you, didn't it?"

"Yes," she said quietly. "My mummy died, and they told me it was going to happen. But I couldn't stop it. And my greatest fear now is that the same thing will happen to my daddy." A tear fell down her cheek. "I can't help it, Harry. I know he will probably live a very long life and we will have many years before that happens. But I keep expecting a prophet to show up at any time and tell me the bad news, and it will be like my mummy dying all over again." She looked at him, a tearstain on her face. "I don't know if I can take that happening a second time."

Harry smiled. "Luna, I think we can do something about this. How about we make a deal?"

"What kind of deal?", she sniffled.

He concentrated, and made a bracelet similar to the bracelet he made for Madam Bones. "This bracelet is a magical way of getting in touch with me. If you hold the ends together for five seconds, it will let me know that you need to speak with me. If you tap the ends together twice within a second, that means it's an emergency and I will come to wherever you are as soon as I can. I have absolute magical authority in Britain, and I would be able to rescue your father from wherever he is very quickly - within seconds."

Her eyes lit up. "Are you kidding?", she said in wonder. "You'd do that for me?"

"Yes, but I require something in return."

"What is it?", she asked pensively.

"If the prophets tell you something is about to happen that is dire that does not involve your father, I need you to tell me immediately. I'll trust your judgement as to whether it's an emergency or not, but please try to save the emergencies for real emergencies, meaning if something doesn't happen _right now_ it will be a very bad thing. If you just hold them together, I'll still be there pretty quickly. Also, if you could please only call me for things I can or should fix, that would be much appreciated. Again, I trust your judgement, but I need sleep," he said, smiling.

She smiled. "Deal.", she said, and accepted the bracelet. As she was putting it on, she said, "The prophets don't give me that kind of information that often anyway. Usually it's informational, about something that either is currently happening or has just happened. There's no point in calling you for those, no matter how sad they might be. But thank you nonetheless," she said, and reached over and hugged him and gave him a kiss on the cheek.

Harry froze.

She detached from him and looked at him oddly. "You've never been hugged, have you?"

"Once or twice," he tried to deflect.

"When?," she asked.

He deflated. "I don't remember."

"What happened?," she asked.

"I'd rather not-" he started.

"Harry, I just told you my greatest fear. You took a major load off my mind when you gave me that bracelet. Now what happened?" Her voice softened with the last three words.

Harry sighed. She wasn't going to let it go and she was right.

"I had to live with my abusive relatives for ten years", he said. "My parents were killed when I was one, and I was placed with them. They hated me and treated me like a house elf."

"So they never hugged you?", she asked, another tear threatening.

"Never. In fact, I never knew my name wasn't 'freak' or 'boy' until I was six."

She recoiled in horror. "How could they?", she said, her voice rising. "HOW COULD THEY!", she screamed. "How could they treat you like that? How could they put you with them?"

Harry had tears brimming now too. "I don't know, Luna. But they did."

Her eyes steeled, and her face became resolute. "I know how to pay you back for the bracelet now. Come here," she said.

"But -"

"Come. Here.", she said, and grabbed his hand and pulled him over to her. He reluctantly complied. He was so anxious just by the contact that he was shaking. She crawled up in his lap and put her arms around him. "Now put your arms around me," she ordered.

He did, awkwardly, and they sat there for a while. She put her head on his chest, and finally he started to relax. She looked up at him. "Isn't this nice?", she said.

"Luna, I-"

"No, Harry. This isn't about dating or 'being together'. I'm only ten after all. There's lots of time for that in the future. Right now, you need hugs. I love hugging. We are going to hug until you don't freeze when people hug you. And we are going to cuddle until you can relax and enjoy cuddling. I don't care if you hug or cuddle other people, but this is what I can and will do for you."

He inhaled her hair, which smelled like fresh water and berries. And, in spite of himself, the tears began to flow. Her arms tightened around him, but otherwise she didn't move. He held her tight like a teddy bear until the tears started to subside.

She smiled at him, and kissed his cheek. "See, Harry? Hugs make everything better." And she snuggled into his chest, as they listened to the brook babble. It wasn't long before they were both dozing, enjoying the warmth of each other's bodies in contrast with the cool breeze.

Finally, they decided it was time to go back to their rooms, and they did so. Harry still smelled Luna's hair as he went to sleep, and he slept better than he had in a long time.

For her part, Luna asked Yeshua, before she went to sleep, "Is he my brother?"

Yeshua answered, with some amusement. "No. He is not your brother, not like Hermione is your sister. What he is to you will be revealed in time."

She smiled.

"No," he said reprovingly, "don't jump to conclusions. I'm not telling you he's going to be your husband. Whatever happens there will develop in its own time. But you will come to mean something to him that the word 'brother' doesn't quite encompass. You've already started down that road. You're still very young, my Luna. Just enjoy your new friends."

She still smiled. She could live with that. And she went to sleep, the smell of Harry still in her nose.

A/N: This is a short chapter, and it was very hard for me to write. I'm dealing with some bad depression right now, and this chapter was as much my way of dealing with it as it was an advance to the story.

Truth be told, I'm not sure I want to continue this story. Don't get me wrong, it's not on hiatus until I say it is, and I will continue writing it until I officially announce that I've stopped, but I feel very discouraged by it. I am a very introspective person by nature, and that introspection comes out strongly in the stories I write. I don't really like to write action scenes, I don't like to write quidditch games or fights, I like to write how people interact with each other and explore theories that run through my head, whether they be scientific or theological or magical or even something entirely. As I've said, this is the book I want to write, but it seems that the minute you stick Jesus into a story people just automatically assume you're some Christian nut who hasn't spent any time thinking about anything, and no evidence to the contrary will convince them otherwise. I've spent a lot of time thinking about how parts of this story fit together, and I know some people enjoy it, but a part of me feels like wasted effort. I hope that makes sense. I write it for me, but in writing this, I really am putting a lot of "me" out there, and, well, I guess people prefer action and quidditch and bashing and all of the other tropes that get lots of views, and thoughtful (I hope) stories like this, well, they're just "blowing kisses in the wind", as Neneh Cherry once put it.

Anyway, I guess that's my rant. I'll have another chapter when I'm not feeling quite as down as I am right now. Thanks to anyone who has read this far, and if you have any words of encouragement, a review or PM would be appreciated.


	5. He Only Said What, Not Who

A/N: Well, here I go, soldiering on. I keep trying to read other fanfics to take a break but they don't seem to hit quite the right notes for me anymore. Frankly, I like mine better. There's always something missing. I keep coming back to wanting to finish this up, so here I go. I'm still really struggling, but we'll do what we have to, I suppose.

**The Chamber of Secrets**

The weekend had finally arrived, and Harry had two big events scheduled for the day. The first one was to occur in the morning, when he trekked down to the Chamber of Secrets to find out if Salazar's basilisk was a threat. Or, more accurately, what kind of threat it posed. A class XXXXX creature is _always_ a threat.

At around 9 AM, after breakfast, Harry found himself in the second floor girls' bathroom, along with Rowena, Luna, the Headmistress, Kamiko, John, and Hermione.

"Why are all these people here?", Harry asked. "Not that I mind, but what we're going down there to see is very dangerous."

Rowena was matter of fact now, which made it a little easier because in the back of Harry's mind was still his last meeting with Rowena.

"Luna is here because I want her to use her 'gift' to see if she can learn anything about a basilisk's magic. The Headmistress is here for obvious reasons. Hermione is here because she may have some useful insights, and Kamiko and John are here because they may have a bit of knowledge that we don't. If you don't mind, Harry, would you open the sink? No time to waste now."

Harry nodded, and said "open" in parseltongue to the snake on the sink. The floor below the sink irised open and the sink vanished.

"I'm not too keen on sliding down that pipe", Rowena said. "Can you command stairs?"

"I'll try. _Stairs_, he said in parseltongue. Nothing happened. He sighed. "Well, if all else fails… magic, I command stairs to appear in this pipe". And they did.

Harry held up his hand before anyone went down. "Magic, I command that nothing that we find down here, including magical beasts or other dangers, shall harm us in any way." He felt the magic settle, and Luna gasped.

"What is it?", Rowena asked.

"The magic. When he spoke, it's like it was standing at attention, and then it raced to configure itself how he commanded. We are all protected by an indestructible shield of magic, and we can't even feel it." She looked at her skin. "It's like it's alive."

Rowena smiled. "Well, down we go, then". And, single file, they did. The first years had the presence of mind to have little balls of light preceding them, which shocked McGonagall.

"What is Flamel teaching you?", she said, astonished.

"Magic", John said cheekily. McGonagall pursed her lips, but couldn't deny the usefulness of those little balls of light. She'd have to talk to Flamel later. That was very advanced magic for a bunch of first years. Hell, it was very advanced magic for an adult wizard.

Finally, after climbing through what seemed like kilometers of grungy pipe, they emerged in a room with torches lining the walls. Harry said "_light_" in parseltongue, and all the torches lit, and they extinguished their balls of light. The room was cast in an eerie green glow from the torches.

As they walked forward, they were stopped by a shed snakeskin. It had to be at least forty feet in length. McGonagall's mouth was pursed so hard that it looked like she was going to break her teeth. "You mean _that_ has been sitting underneath the school for a thousand years?"

Harry shrugged. "It's probably bigger now."

McGonagall looked as if she wanted to say something, but didn't trust her mouth, so she just closed it and walked on.

It was quiet as they moved forward, until they encountered a door with snakes on it. "_Open_", Harry said in parseltongue, and the door opened. As they walked through, Rowena stopped. "The wards stop here," she said. "This door is a portal. It seems to lead to an underground space about half a mile from the castle near the Forbidden Forest. I can't extend the wards that far without using far more energy than I'm comfortable with. I'm afraid my help will stop here. Please investigate thoroughly and let me know what you find. I suspect there is a backdoor entrance to the castle from there that I am not aware of. If you reenter the wards through another path, I will know."

Harry nodded and the rest of them filed through the door.

The children and the Headmistress all looked around, suitably awed at the egotistical grandeur of the hall they found themselves in. It did not look well taken care of, there were a few snakeskins scattered around even larger than the one in the corridor. There was a pool of water in front of a large face, that which they assumed to be that of Salazar Slytherin himself.

John whispered in Harry's ear, and Harry said, in parseltongue, "_Speak to me, Slytherin, greatest of the Hogwarts four. _Wow, an ego on that guy, eh?", Harry said as the face opened up, and there was a loud rustling sound and few bangs as the basilisk made itself known.

"_Who disturbs me?_", the basilisk said, clearly peeved about being bothered.

"_I do, the heir of Slytherin._"

The basilisk sniffed the air. "_You are that, and much more besides. Nonetheless, why do you disturb me?_"

"_The last time you were used, a student died. We wish to know why you are here and what your purpose is._"

"_I am here to protect the school._"

"_How would you accomplish that?_", Harry asked.

"_In the event of a siege, I can go outside the wards and kill those who would be attacking the school from outside._"

Harry nodded. That actually makes sense. "_Can you enter the school?_"

"_There is a way. That was not my original purpose._"

Kamiko whispered in Harry's ear as the basilisk waited patiently. Turned out there was an acromantula colony in the forest that needed culling. Harry knew what to do now.

"_Here is the deal I am prepared to offer_", Harry said, and the basilisk dipped its head respectfully. "_We will allow you to continue your mission to defend the school. The wards will be adjusted to never allow you into the school again, no matter which way you try. However, there is a colony of acromantula living not too far from here that is invasive. Your mission for now is to eradicate that colony. You may eat as many as you choose, and as long as the population continues to dwindle, you may take your time. I would recommend starting with the young ones, but the hunt is yours to do as you see fit. Leave all other species alone for the time being, and if they attempt to injure you let me know at once. Once the colony is eradicated, we will figure out where to go from there. But you are never to harm a student, human, or other being that is not a direct threat to the school ever again except in self defense, no matter who commands it and no matter where you meet them. In exchange for all of that, I will allow you to live._"

"_You could kill me?_", the basilisk asked, both amusedly and with a little worry.

"_With a word_", Harry said, and the basilisk knew he meant it. "_But acromantula hunting is dangerous for our kind, and I imagined you might appreciate a challenge._"

The basilisk nodded. "_I do love a good hunt with worthy opponents_", the basilisk said, and flicked its tongue. "_It shall be as you say. When I have consumed or killed all of the acromantula, I will 'knock on the wards', shall we say, and then we will talk again. Farewell for now, heir._" The basilisk slithered back into its hole and the face shut.

"We will need to explore this room further, but the basilisk is not a threat, and for the short term will actually be quite helpful. Let's go meet up with Rowena," Harry said, "and I'll explain."

**Rowena Ravenclaw's Office**

Rowena sat down, and the rest of the group sat down along with her. "So all the rest of us heard was a bunch of hissing. What happened down there?"

Harry shrugged. "I made a deal with the basilisk."

Rowena sighed. "I really wish you'd run these things by me first."

Harry didn't look cowed at all. "You don't trust my judgement?"

"I have a job to do, Harry, and that is to protect this school. I could trust your judgement implicitly, and still I'd rather you run these kinds of things past me. It is in my nature. Anyway, what's done is done. What happened?"

"The basilisk was intended to sit outside the wards and attack people who were attempting to lay siege to the school. Otherwise, it just bides its time. It has a way into the building, but that can be easily adjusted by ensuring that all class XXXXX creatures are excluded from the wards.

Rowena looked embarrassed. "I thought… nevermind. They are now. Stupid Salazar had an exclusion for the basilisk. So what's the deal you made?", she asked, looking as if her patience was being tried.

"Oh, that's easy. I told it never to attack anyone or anything except in self defense, but I sicced it on the acromantula colony in the forbidden forest. I told it to eat its fill, and take its time, as long as their population continues to decline, and in return, I would let it live. It seemed quite happy indeed with that deal. It has been, shall we say, 'chomping at the bit' for a worthy opponent. It said it would 'knock on the wards' when it was completed with its task."

Rowena's mouth dropped open. "That's… actually genius. Those acromantulas have been a problem for years, ever since Hagrid let his pet one free."

It was Harry's turn for his mouth to drop open. "Did you say pet… acromantula?"

Rowena sighed. "Yes, I did, and it's a long story. It's somewhat related to the last opening of the chamber. Which reminds me, you have another injustice to take care of at some point. But we can leave that for a little while."

Harry nodded. "Bring me up to date soon, and I'll do what I can."

Rowena settled back, seemingly relaxed again. "Well, I don't think I could have come up with a better solution. We've figured out how to keep the basilisk out of the school, given it something productive to do, and avoided having to kill a class XXXXX magical creature unnecessarily. That was a good solution, Harry. Though I still wish you'd conferred with me."

"It's kind of hard to think about things like that when conversing with a sixty foot basilisk.", Harry retorted.

Rowena sighed again. "Point taken. I'll drop it. But please keep it in mind for the future."

"We're working towards the same goal, Rowena."

"I know, I know," she said, a little sadly. "It almost feels like I've been a mother for a thousand years who has to let go of her baby."

Harry nodded. "Just a little. But you'll always be Hogwarts in every meaningful way."

Rowena turned to look at Luna. "Did you notice anything interesting or unusual?", she asked.

Luna thought for a moment. "There were other places in the hall where the magic flowed unusually. I don't think being home to a basilisk was the chamber's only purpose."

Rowena thought. "Well, it was called the 'chamber of secrets'. Plural. I was hoping we could investigate more today, but we accomplished what we set out to do. We should go back soon and see if we can tease out some more of its secrets. Salazar did have his sneaky moments.

Kamiko? John? Any thoughts?"

John smiled. "Just glad that I didn't hafta fight that varmint like last time. That's one scary snake."

Kamiko nodded. "Terrifying. I only have memories of being petrified by it because I… Hermione… saw it through a mirror. I am very glad that this problem is dealt with."

"Hermione?"

Hermione shook her head. "I hope I never see one of those again."

"Hear hear", most of the rest of the people in the room said.

"Well, I guess that's one mission accomplished," Rowena said. "Now if you will excuse me, I am going to enjoy the rest of my Saturday. Maybe take a walk around the lake, within the wards, anyway."

Harry blushed a little. Rowena looked piercingly at Harry. "Harry, please stay back for a bit. Everyone else, go enjoy your Saturday."

They filed out the door and it closed. Harry gulped.

"What did you hear?", she asked sternly.

Harry turned beet red. "I heard clothes rustling, you saying 'finally', and then a sound that I can only describe as one of either incredible pain or satisfaction."

Rowena chuckled. "I should have waited a few more seconds. I'm sorry. I'm still getting used to this body full-time and it's hard to ignore its needs sometimes. I was never in any pain, Harry. In fact, quite the opposite. But nonetheless, you shouldn't have heard that. I apologize."

Harry looked like he wanted to be anywhere but there. "It's alright," he said uncertainly.

"No it's not, not really," she said. "But it's not my place to explain it to you. I promise I'll be more careful in the future."

Harry nodded.

"Just don't look at me any differently, okay?"

"I'll try."

"That's all I ask," Rowena said, smiling. "Now off with you. A walk around the lake _does_ seem like a wonderful idea right now. I'm still not used to being able to leave the Heart."

"And I have an appointment to prepare for this afternoon anyway," Harry said. "Have a nice walk", he said, and winked. This time Rowena blushed a little. "Get out of here, you little flirt!", she exclaimed, laughing. And he did, before she found something relatively harmless to throw at him.

It seemed that after a thousand years as Hogwarts she forgot she could throw hexes.

Harry realized something very important. He realized that he did not have clothes sufficient to wear to the Greengrass house. He didn't know their ways, but he figured that his school robes and his Dudley hand-me-downs were probably going to be appropriate wear. He was about to step out and take care of that situation when Rowena faded in front of him.

"Harry," she said, "We have a problem. Come with me."

Harry sighed. Looked like some old fashioned time manipulation was going to be the order of the day. He took note of the time, then followed Rowena to wherever she was going.

**Front gates of Hogwarts**

Rowena walked very quickly down the path from Hogwarts, to the front gates. Standing at the borders of the wards, feet from where their borders were, was a man. He was an ordinary looking man as men go, about 175 cm and not too far out of shape, carrying a backpack, but he stood there looking utterly confused and lost, which quickly turned to surprise as he saw two people came almost running out of the ruins of the castle he found himself at. He also kept looking nervously behind him, as if he wanted to be anywhere but where he was at the moment, and it was taking an extreme force of will just to even stand there.

Rowena and Harry walked up to just behind the wards, standing a few feet from the man. Rowena started to say "State your -" but Harry held up his hand. He had a sinking feeling. Rowena looked a little offended but did as Harry requested. He usually had a good reason when he took charge.

"Yeshua sent you," Harry said. It was not a question.

"Yes, Jesus did," the man answered.

"Do you know what for?"

"I have absolutely no idea why I have been sent on this seemingly hopeless trek to the ruins of a castle in the middle of nowhere in Scotland," the man said. "I am actually quite surprised to have found a living soul here and for some reason I want nothing more than to be far away from this place. But Yeshua told me I had a job to do here, so I came."

Harry looked at Rowena. "On my responsibility, please let him through the wards. If you could also except him from the non-magical repelling wards, it would be much appreciated. I think I know why he is here, and I think he will be the first of seven people. Please allow them through as well." Rowena nodded. She knew Harry knew what he was doing, and he would tell her shortly.

He turned to the man. "What is your name?"

"David Smith."

"My name is Harry Potter, and this is Rowena Ravenclaw. You have been granted access to the castle of Hogwarts. Please step forward."

He did so, and the castle shimmered into existence in front of his eyes. "Wha-?", he asked, completely gobsmacked.

Harry facepalmed. "Please follow us. You will come to no harm here. Both of us are also followers of Jesus, though we call him Yeshua. We will explain more soon."

Rowena looked at him questioningly. Harry just shook his head as to say "Not here", and they all walked into the castle.

They walked through the castle, the look on David's face alternating between fear, awe, confusion, and utter numbness. Harry decided the best place for them to meet was the Room, and he set it to Luna's configuration, except he added three comfortable chairs. They walked in, and David looked around the room in amazement. It was a very beautiful place.

Harry offered him a seat, and asked a house elf for some refreshments, with which one popped in, set down, and left.

Rowena finally burst. "What exactly is going on here, Harry?"

Harry put his head in his hands. "I think we are about to witness Yeshua play a prank on the wizarding world like we have never seen before. Mr. Smith, please stay calm, and we will explain as best we can. This is not a situation we were prepared for."

"Why don't we start with who 'we' is, for a start, Mr. Potter?," David said quietly.

"Fair enough. I have no idea how to ease you into this, so I'll just say it bluntly. You have just been brought into a society of people who have access to abilities that most people don't. You are one of those people that don't, but you were brought here for a purpose. Why don't you tell me how you came to be here?"

"Alright, but I expect more answers soon." Harry nodded. "I had just gone through a very rough divorce, and I had lost all reason for living. Finally I asked God to give me a reason for living or I'd just end it all. I felt him nudge me towards Scotland. The urge didn't leave me, so I packed up a backpack and drove up here until the roads ran out - my car is parked probably five miles out. I walked here, and as I did, I kept feeling like there was something else I needed to do, but I kept walking, driven by the need to come here. Then I stopped when I bumped into something invisible but solid. A couple of moments later, both of you came out, and here we are."

"Do you trust Yeshua to have led you here and that he would not lead you to harm?"

"Yes."

"Good. You do indeed have a job to do. Pardon my surprise earlier, but as you will find out shortly, you were absolutely the last person I ever expected to be called to do this particular job. But why don't we start with some _true_ introductions. I think it's the least you deserve.

"Sitting next to me is Rowena Ravenclaw. She is one of the founders of Hogwarts, one of the premier schools of magic in the world."

"Magic?", David asked, eyes wide with fear.

"Don't be afraid," Harry said. "It's not the evil kind. You'll come to understand soon. But I understand your concerns. Trust Yeshua on this, please."

David nodded. He was still afraid, but willing to keep an open mind.

"She is over one thousand years old at this point."

"Is that _normal_ for your kind?", David asked, shocked.

"No, actually. She is one of three exceptions to our normal lifespan, and all three currently live in this building. The other two are around 650 years old. I am eleven. The normal lifespan for our kind is around one hundred and fifty years."

"If Yeshua hadn't sent me here I'd think you were crazy."

Harry chuckled. "Sometimes I'm not sure myself," he said. "I was raised amongst your kind," he said, not unkindly. "I understand entirely. My introduction to this world was about two months ago."

David relaxed just a little. That seemed to help.

"Anyway, there is much to explain, far more than I can explain in the short amount of time I have available. And you need some time to acclimate to our world if you are to do your job properly. Rowena, there will be six more like him showing up probably within the next week or so. Can you please arrange quarters and find some people with a non-magical background to help them understand the world that they have just found themselves in?"

Rowena nodded. "I can do that. But you will tell me what's going on as soon as you can." It was not a question.

Harry nodded in return. "That's been the plan. But I want to brief all seven at the same time. I will come see you in your office tomorrow morning and explain everything."

"That is acceptable."

Harry turned to David, who seemed to be relaxing a little and was munching on a sandwich.

"David, do not worry. We will ensure your safety and your comfort. You are in no danger and all will be explained shortly, though I will wait for six more people to arrive before I tell you exactly why you are here. House elf, please," he said, and a house elf arrived. "What is your name?"

"My name is Flippy", the elf said, ears flopping happily.

"Mr. Smith, these are house elves. They are servants of the castle and are happy to provide anything you may need, even if you are unfamiliar with their appearance. Flippy, this is David Smith. Until you are told otherwise, you are to provide him with any reasonable needs he requests, and he is also to be provided with three meals per day of standard Hogwarts quality and light snacks and drinks if he requests. Please make sure that his meals comply with any dietary restrictions he may have."

Flippy nodded. "Flippy helps Davesies," she said, nodding once, and popped out.

Harry smiled. "Standard Hogwarts quality, by the way, is very high quality indeed. This is not a prison, Mr. Smith. We simply want to make your transition as painless as possible. Just call for Flippy with any reasonable needs, such as reading material, and we will arrange a tour soon. To do so, just say her name, and she will come immediately, or nearly so. I will leave you now in Lady Ravenclaw's capable hands." He shook David's hand and patiently waited for them to leave the room.

Rowena stood up, and David followed her out the door. She was already starting to explain to him some features of the castle.

Harry, for his part, put his head in his hands. "Yeshua, did you really have to make the judges non-magical? Do you have any _idea_ what kind of a hornet's nest you just stirred up?"

Yeshua faded in, chuckling softly, and sat down. "I have every idea, Harry. To a pureblood, what could possibly be lower and more base than a non-magical? I did this for a reason, Harry. I am exalting the least, and humbling the greatest. There will be an outcry, and anger, and things will be a mess for a time. But in the long run, it's the right thing to do."

Harry laughed, darkly. "Well, whatever happens, I think you just outpranked anyone in Britain, any time, anywhere."

Yeshua smiled. "You know, Harry, I think you're right. And there have been some pretty good pranksters, even in this very school. Which reminds me - talk to Fred and George Weasley soon. They're natural pranksters, and they're about to explode under the new rules for the castle. Their creativity and business acumen needs to be redirected towards more productive purposes, and I've already planted one in their head. They just need help to get off the ground. And if you thought what I did _here_ was a prank…" Yeshua left the rest unsaid.

Harry rubbed his temples. "Yeshua, it seems like every time I think I know what to expect from you, you don't only change the pieces on the game board, you don't only change the rules of the game, but you start an entirely new game and we're just here to deal with the fallout."

Yeshua shrugged. "It's part of the contract, Harry. There are two parts to the contract. My part of the contract is this: I accept people, and things, exactly as they are. But the other half of the contract is that I never, _ever_, leave things as I found them. I'd be a pretty awful savior if I did, don't you think?"

Harry grimaced. "There is absolutely no way, after today, that I could ever even consider arguing that point. Appointing non-magicals to judge magical society. Not in a million years would I _ever_ have seen that one coming. Oh, I can't wait to explain this one to Rowena or Nick. Or Madam Bones." He shook his head.

"You're my champion, Harry, not my PR agent. You don't have to explain or make excuses for my actions. Simply tell them. They have every right and ability to take it up with me if they choose. Frankly, I wish more of them would. I wouldn't necessarily change my mind, but at least then they'd at least be talking to me."

Harry sighed. "You're right. I'm putting this one squarely on you."

Yeshua smiled. "Now you get it. That's exactly where it belongs." He looked around. "Your friend Luna has excellent taste. This is a very pleasant configuration". He sighed rapturously.

"It is, isn't it? Luna is kind of like a force of nature. She whirls into your life, and never leaves it quite like she found it. Kind of like you, but she smells better."

Yeshua laughed, hard, at that one. "Touche, kiddo. Touche."

Harry thought. "Any advice on the Greengrasses?"

Yeshua thought for just a moment. "Be yourself. Try, but don't try too hard. They may surprise you, yet." He smiled. "Yes, I think they just might. But buying new clothes isn't a bad idea at all. Might want to get a move on," he said.

Harry stood up reluctantly. "I suppose so. Thanks for letting me grumble."

"I'm used to grumbling, Harry. Hardly anyone does what I need for them to do without grumbling to one degree or another. All that matters is that they do it."

Harry sighed. "I'm glad to have met Luna, even if just to know the room could do this. Maybe someday I'll learn how it works. But right now… I'll just take it for what it is. It's like a piece of Luna now, every time I come here."

Yeshua nodded. "That's because it is. She's a very special girl, Harry. Even by my standards. Treat her well, Harry, and she will be a friend for life, and beyond."

Harry looked at Yeshua, a look of earnestness Yeshua had never seen in Harry's eyes before.

"I could never not treat her well, Yeshua. I may shine in her eyes. But she is beautiful in mine."

"You see in her what many do not, what many may never. She is precious, Harry. Treat her so, and she will always be loyal to you."

Harry nodded. "Well, I guess I have some clothes to buy. Thanks again for the chat, Yeshua."

Yeshua smiled. "Of course. Please feel free. I think I will stay here for a bit and enjoy Luna's creation. It's not quite the same quality as the artistry of my Father, but she's come far closer than most. This is most enjoyable," he said, and sighed happily.

Harry chuckled in amusement and waved as he closed the door.

A few minutes later, the door opened again, and Luna walked in. She stopped short when she saw that the room was in her configuration, and that a man she didn't recognize was sitting in one of the chairs in the clearing.

"Luna Lovegood," he said, waving in her direction. "Come over and have a seat. I've been expecting you."

Luna cocked her head in that odd way she did when she encountered something she didn't understand. "You are most unusual," she said. "Lady Ravenclaw has the magic of the castle standing at attention. Harry Potter shines. But it is as if you aren't even there, even though it is almost if you _should _be shining far brighter than Harry does. You aren't really here, even though you are."

Yeshua smiled. "Perhaps that is as good a description as any. I am here fully, but I am not fully here. You perceive well. Come, my Luna. Sit down."

Her eyes widened in recognition. "Yeshua", she breathed. "The Spirit of Magic."

He chuckled. "In the flesh, of sorts," he said amusedly.

She curtsied prettily and ran over to his lap, where she jumped on and snuggled in. He chuckled. "Luna, you are one of a kind," he said affectionately. She just giggled.

"That's what everyone keeps telling me," she said happily, "and many of the things I've experienced have kind of proven that, don't you think? Oh, you have a heartbeat!", she said in wonder.

"Well, what did you expect me to have?," he said with mock seriousness.

"I don't know. Why would Yeshua have a heartbeat?"

He chuckled. "Why not?", he said. "Wouldn't it be more strange if I didn't?"

"Yes, but you're you," she said.

He sighed. "I am, but that doesn't always mean what people think it means. I am many different things, Luna, but I never stopped being human."

She nodded. "I suppose that makes sense. I could be like Hermione and try to figure it out, but this is too comfortable," she said, and sighed happily.

"Yes, she is a bundle of questions, isn't she? That's why I made you sisters. She can teach you how to ask questions and learn more about things instead of always taking them for granted. You are a little gullible, Luna. And you can teach her how to embrace wonder instead of always trying to find answers."

"She does know a lot," Luna said.

"She does," he agreed, "but she doesn't know how to be joyful."

Luna looked up at Yeshua. "How could she not? What's to live for if there's no joy?", she said, a tear threatening in one of her eyes.

"And that, my dear Luna, is why I made you sisters."

Luna nodded. "I think I understand. But maybe it doesn't matter if I don't."

"Good girl," he said, and smiled. "There are some things I need to tell you and only you. You can share them if you want, but this is one of those times when I need you to be a grown-up and choose who you tell carefully, alright?"

She looked up with wide eyes and nodded. "I'm not grown up, though."

He patted her back. "I know, I know, Luna. Life has forced you to grow up in some ways far before you're ready. But this is very important. Can I trust you with this?"

She nodded. "You can always trust me."

"I know," he agreed. "But for you, friendship is more important than secrets."

She lowered her head. She knew it was true. She wouldn't _betray_ people, that wasn't her, but if she thought it would make people like her, sometimes it would just slip out.

"I'm giving you friends so that you don't have to worry about that, Luna. But I still need you to be a grown-up for this. Can you do that?"

Finally she nodded. "I'll try. I'm only human, though."

He laughed. "As are we both, my Luna."

"You're not _only_ human," she protested.

"True, true. But I am also as human as you are. It's one of the mysteries of being me."

"You're full of mysteries, Yeshua."

"I'm also full of contradictions. But not from all perspectives. I'm only a mystery and a contradiction to those who cannot see the full picture."

She nodded. "What do you need to tell me?"

"Your gifts, Luna. Lady Ravenclaw and Professor Flamel will be a big help in helping you learn to control and use them, but even they really don't know what they are. They can't see or perceive what you do, so all they can teach you is the combined knowledge of people like you that came before, and there weren't that many. They are correct that people would attempt to take advantage of your gifts if they could, but they don't understand that more people who have your gifts end up insane rather than enslaved."

Luna's face was one of horror. "What do you mean?", she said.

"Luna," Yeshua said sadly, "What would you have done if Harry hadn't given you that bracelet?"

"I… I don't know. I think I would have spent the rest of my life in fear of what the prophets would tell me."

"What about as other people come closer to you? You can't protect everyone, and as powerful as he is, neither can Harry. He did a very good thing by giving you that bracelet, but it's only a temporary fix, at best."

Luna nodded. "Then what do I do?", she asked softly. "I don't want to fear the prophets, but I do. Every time one comes up to me I'm afraid of what it's going to tell me. And you're telling me it's only going to get worse."

Yeshua sighed sadly. "Actually, Luna, it's worse than that. The prophets and the 'wrackspurts' aren't the only creatures of magic out there. For example, ghosts are a kind of creature of magic, but the worst are demons. They are what happens when a person is so tormented that a piece of their magic breaks free and turns on them and everyone else. Would you know how to handle one of those?"

She shivered. "I think I saw one once. It was terrible. It just stared at me."

"They can cause damage, Luna. The danger of the prophets is that they cause fear of the future, even though they can be helpful at times. The danger with demons is that they can disrupt magic. And matter and energy come from magic, did you know that?"

She was now burrowed into Yeshua's shirt, shaking a little with fear.

"I didn't tell you all this to make you afraid, Luna, though I feared that it would. I'm telling you all this to tell you this: spiritual practices are far more important for you than they are for most people. I don't mean empty spiritual practices like corporate worship or rote prayer. I mean, you have to truly understand what you are facing and how to protect yourself and others. Your gift isn't just passive, Luna."

She looked up, tears in her eyes, and sniffled. "What do you mean?"

"I mean the Enemy would love to see you just buffeted around by magic, seeing things other people can't, knowing things other people don't, and powerless to affect that which you see and hear. But all humans have a certain amount of authority, Luna. Most people aren't aware of it and don't know how to use it. But fear stops you from using it."

"What do you mean by authority?"

"I gave Harry the authority over all magic in Britain. Whenever he makes a command or proclamation, magic jumps at his words and does whatever he says, as long as it's even remotely possible. But he can't see what you do, Luna. He has authority over that which he only barely understands and uses it as a person who barely understands it would. That's okay, by the way. Not even Professor Flamel understands but the smallest amount of what magic is and what it can do. But in some ways, Harry doesn't have the authority that you do. Do you know why?"

Luna thought for a moment. Finally, she said, slowly… "Because all of the authority in the world is useless if you don't know how to use it."

"Bingo", Yeshua said, and rubbed her back comfortingly. "Your authority comes from two sources. Your normal authority as a human, and the authority that knowing me gives you. It's not the same kind of authority Harry has, but it's possibly even more powerful, because you can see the potentialities that he is unable to. His job is a big one, and he has all of the authority he needs for that job. Your job is a different one."

"What is it?", she asked, now curious.

"Make sure to not let him bollocks things up."

"How will I know?"

"What do you think the prophets are for, Luna? Do you think they just flit around and tell you things that aren't important? When a prophet speaks, it's about things that are important to either you or to the world, and they will seek out people who can hear and understand them. If Harry is about to majorly screw up, a prophet will likely tell you, and if one doesn't, I will. Then you are to use that handy bracelet I gave you through Harry, tap it twice, and tell Harry exactly what the prophet tells you. If he insists past there, I will deal with him. I don't expect this to happen, by the way, but he may need a moral compass at some point.

"But more importantly for you, you have more authority than most people because you have more knowledge. Ninety-five percent of the power of the Enemy comes from the fact that one doesn't know his influence. But you can see it. Don't be afraid to call it out and tell it to go away. If you do so, it _must_ listen to you. That is one of the boons I gained from my ritual. I won. You're on the winning team. Use it.

"Do not be afraid, My Luna. I understand you live in a scary world, more scary than the world that most people inhabit, simply because they are ignorant of what you are not. But show even the least amount of courage and your enemies will be driven from you. This I promise."

She looked up at him, but there was more in her eyes than just fear. There was resoluteness, and adoration. "You promise?"

"I promise," he said, and ruffled her hair a bit, making her squeak. "You have a gift, not a curse. But you have to _believe_ that, and believe me, or it will be a curse, and a worse one than anyone could cast on you. Come back any time and call on me, Luna, and I will come. Anywhere you are, call on me, and I will answer. To she who much is given, much is expected, but I never give more than you can bear, even if the only way to bear it is through me."

She smiled. "I think I understand."

He nodded. "I think you do too. And I also think that is enough for now. This is an amazing room you created here, Luna. Why don't we sit here for a while and enjoy it?"

Luna squirmed around so that she was facing to the front, and they both watched the colorful fish swim in the brook for what seemed like hours. Luna had never felt more loved in her life, even though neither of them said another word. Finally, she fell asleep. He gently picked her up, and put her in the clearing. He kissed her forehead, said "rest well, my Luna", and faded out.

A/N I think I'll stop this chapter here. This was a _very_ hard chapter to write, particularly the last bit. The reason it is so hard is because it is hard to write Yeshua as someone who understands Luna, when she is very deliberately written as a character that is difficult to understand. And I have to write her as a ten year old, which is very different than writing a Luna from, say the fourth year. Yeshua cannot be surprised at anything she does or says, and it is hard to resist that temptation.

I understand Luna's fear, personally. It is very difficult to live life expecting life-disrupting news to happen at any time, and to be powerless to prevent both the news and what it portends. I had that situation throughout my childhood. I think Yeshua helped her a bit. She will still need to learn how to use her knowledge and abilities in a productive manner. Yeshua is probably the only one who can teach her. Lucky girl, indeed.

Next chapter, pretty sure Harry meets the Greengrass', and maybe a few other surprises as well.


	6. Introductions Done Right - and Wrong

A/N: I realize this story is kind of dragging along a bit. It's, as with most things in this story, a tough balancing act. How fast do I want to go and miss some of the important details? But it kind of mirrors Yeshua's view on the whole thing: we're going slowly because the changes have to grow slowly, and part of the fun is seeing how people react and how Yeshua doesn't just rampage through, but teases people along and tries his best to get them on his side when necessary. Put another way, I'm valuing character and story development over speed. You'll see what I mean in this chapter. Yeshua has some preparatory work to do, and Harry's really not the right person for it.

I realize for some people this is boring, but I'm going for deep and slow over shallow and fast. There's so much I want to explore here, and I can't do it if I just rocket through the story and everyone lives happily ever after.

But the changes will happen. They must. Nicolas has already set something in motion that can't be stopped, and now the rest of the world has to adjust to it. The very first lesson he taught was sufficient to set that in motion.

Maybe someday soon I will set up a website for this story and write some of the magical theory as an encyclopaedia. Review or PM if that's something you would like to see.

**Preparations**

**Bones Manor**

Amelia Bones was sitting in her breakfast nook in her bathrobe, reading a newspaper and sipping her morning coffee. Coffee wasn't really a drink that had made its way into the magical world yet, but she had discovered it by chance once at a Muggle coffee shop, and she was hooked from then on. She was a pureblood, but she was more open than most to Muggle inventions, as she recognized the stagnation of the Wizard World and, truth be told, was pretty unhappy with the situation as it was. That's why many of the things that Harry, er, the Champion, was doing, didn't bother her too much, though the details were causing her significant headaches.

She sighed. The sun was coming through the windows and illuminating the table in front of her, and she heard birds singing in the trees outside. She wished that she had taken the time to study to become an animagus, she thought she would be a bird. Even if it were just a sparrow, it would still be fun to flit around, cheeping and peeping, without a care in the world except evading sparrowhawks and finding its next meal. Even considering all of the downsides that seemed very appealing to her at the moment. Saturdays were good. The ministry was closed except for essential functions, and most of those essential functions did not involve her unless the sky was falling, and she doubted that would happen today. That would happen at the next Wizengamot meeting. She sighed, and took a sip of her coffee. And immediately sprayed it all over her newspaper and the man who was suddenly sitting across from her, seeming like he hadn't a care in the world. She went for her wand, but he raised his hand. "Peace," he said. And somehow she believed him. She stopped going for her wand, but she said, with no little animosity, "Who are you?"

"Yeshua, in the flesh," he said, "or mostly so, anyway." He chuckled.

She eeped like Daphne did when looking at Harry in the meeting with Ophelia Greengrass, and pulled her bathrobe tighter. "I mean no disrespect, but what are you doing here?," she asked, not quite sure how to behave.

"Relax, Amelia," he said. "I'm just here for a conversation."

"Well, you sure picked a time," she said, just a little frostily.

He chuckled again. "I know. But I wanted to avoid the formality of your office, and it's a beautiful morning, is it not? Mornings like this are to be shared, at least sometimes."

"I prefer being alone, honestly," she said.

"Do you now?", he said.

She lowered her head. "Well, kind of. I do like my moments of privacy, but I've just learned to enjoy it after all these years."

"It has been a long time, Amelia, hasn't it? One of the worst miscarriages of justice I've ever seen led you to this place."

She sighed. "If I'd just bothered to look… but no, I assumed he was guilty, just like everyone else. No one in Azkaban could not be guilty, right?"

"You had too much faith in your justice system."

"I had too much faith in many things I shouldn't have."

"Just so", he said quietly. "But so does almost everyone else. Don't blame yourself too much, Amelia. Yes, you could have discovered it, but do you really think you could have done much with Fudge in office and Dumbledore and Lucius pulling the strings in the background? Dumbledore knew from the very beginning, Amelia, and so did Lucius."

She looked thunderstruck, eyes wide. "They _knew_?", she asked.

"Of course they did. Dumbledore was the secret keeper. But how else was Harry Potter going to get sent to his relatives? Sirius was his Godfather. He should have had custody."

"That meddling old coot," she said angrily.

"Yes, but he has come to realize some of the error of his ways. Why do you think he resigned so quickly when the Heir of Hogwarts came to light and I made my first appearance? He knew the jig was up. Harry forgave him. It was one of the hardest things for him to do, but he did. It's up to you and Sirius if you want to forgive him or not, but perhaps you should at least visit him before he passes on."

"I'm not sure I'm ready for that.", she said pensively.

"Understandable. But don't tally too much. People only have a limited time on this earth, and his is coming to a close. He probably only has a few years, at most, left."

She nodded. "I'll take that under advisement. But why are you really here?," she asked.

He tutted gently. "I can't just come and visit for breakfast?," he asked, a slight smile on his face.

She snorted. "Whenever you or your champion show up, it usually means I'm going to have a major headache in a few days. I doubt today is going to be an exception. Why are you really here?," she repeated.

Yeshua laughed. "I can't pull one past you, can I, my Amelia? You always were such a no-nonsense person. I guess it takes one like you to do law enforcement. Which is such a necessary task, even if humanity has never, ever gotten it right."

"Is that why your champion tells me that you are raising seven judges?"

"It is," he said. "The problem we're facing now, and my champion only dimly realizes this, is that if this situation is not managed very carefully, magical Britain will slip back into a feudal structure where the most wealthy and powerful get to make the rules. I can't allow that to happen. If it weren't for the non-magicals, it would be a harsh, if viable social structure, as it was hundreds of years ago. But if magical battles start spreading out into, say, London, then they will respond. And they are now fully capable of responding. But I can't leave things as they are, either, or the opposite will happen. In fifty years the non-magicals, if they continue on as they are, will have either discovered or come very close to discovering magic on their own. And if we are not prepared for that eventuality, it will all come to a very messy end for everyone."

"So why the judges?"

"Because they are incorruptible. You see, the only thing that bribes could _possibly_ do is keep them from invoking judgement, but the judges don't work for the ministry or wizengamot, they work for _me_. And I can fire them. They will prevent the reversion of magical Britain to a feudal social structure because the root of 'law enforcement', as it were, will be both incorruptible and utterly incapable of being misled or judging incorrectly. So the wealthy will have exactly as much access to fair judgement as the poor, and _no more_."

"I get it, Yeshua, I get it," she said, rubbing her temples. "So what do you need _me_ for anymore? You've pretty much rendered the ministry irrelevant, even if most of us don't realize it, you've rendered the wizengamot impotent, you've taken over the magical world in almost every meaningful way, or at least you're _about_ to. Why not just kick us all out of the ministry and rule yourself?"

He nodded. "I could do that. I actually could. I could come in a bright cloud, with trumpets blaring, announcing the new king of the world, and commanding that everyone bow to me. And what do you think would happen?"

"They'd try to blast you to oblivion."

"Yes, exactly," he said. "Even now, they're not going to like it. You don't even like it, Amelia. I know you're trying to put on a brave face and deal with the cards you're dealt, but you'd rather I'd never stuck my nose in, wouldn't you?"

She sighed. "It's no use lying to you, is it?"

He chuckled. "Not really. I know your heart, Amelia. You are a fair-minded and ethical person. You also don't trust me."

"Why should I?", she said, sounding a little heated. "No, seriously, Yeshua, and you can smite me if you don't like what I'm saying, but why should I trust you? What have you done since you showed up here, raised up a rampaging dragon, destroyed our prison and a significant portion of our government, brought back a kind of magic that can't be controlled or stopped, and then offered up an admittedly effective solution which only serves to consolidate power behind you? You've done all these things, and while I think I have the faintest inkling of what you're trying to accomplish, and it's a worthy goal in many ways, why should I trust you any more than I would have trusted the last person to have attempted to do something similar to this, namely he-who-shall-not-be-named? Tell me, Yeshua. Tell me why I should trust you?". There were unshed tears as she unloaded on him.

He sat quietly. The silence was palpable, and Amelia was shaking now. All of the frustrations of the last couple of weeks were coming to the fore, and she wasn't sure she could deal with it.

Finally he said, quietly, "I'm not going to smite you. I never smite people who are honest with me, Amelia. And I have to say, guilty as charged. I've done all of the things that you've accused me of. I might have put it a little differently, but that matters little. You're absolutely right that I have done all those things, and more that you don't know about."

He was then quiet for a while longer. Amelia couldn't tell if he was deep in thought or waiting for her to pull herself together. Either way, she appreciated the respite.

He turned around and looked at a small, pretty bird sitting on the lawn outside, looking for food. The bird finally pulled a small worm out of the ground, and gulped it down. The bird continued its search for food, completely unaware of their gaze.

"I love watching birds," Yeshua said. "They are such amazing creatures. Gifted with the ability of flight, and they have no idea how it works. They just find themselves popping out of an egg one morning, getting fed until their feathers grow out, then their parents kick them out of the nests and they learn to fly. First they take a few halting flights, and pretty soon they're hopping around and flying around, doing all of the things that birds do. People often say 'I'd like to be free, like a bird', but do you really think birds are free? Yes, they are able to fly, but they are slaves to their basic nature. They're not free. Their nature is to be birds."

He turned back to Amelia. "People aren't much different than birds, in many ways. You pop out of your mother and all of your experience is in learning how to be a human. Being human is very different than being a bird, but you are no more free than a bird is. A slave to your nature. And your good nature leads to cycles of amazing knowledge, and then your bad nature gets angry at other groups of people and you pull yourselves right back to the dark ages. Nick told you the story of the Arches, right?"

She nodded.

"A thousand years ago magical knowledge was so much more than knowledge is now that it's going to take you decades just to figure out the things they did expertly. But the arches were far more ancient, and they hadn't figured them out yet. And then there was the city of Atlantis, which is the stuff of legends, both of human hubris and human knowledge. Even back in Biblical days, there was the tower of Babel. Are you familiar with that story?"

She shook her head. "I've never read the Bible, though I've heard of it."

"Humanity had gotten into their heads that they were going to build a tower so tall that it would reach into the heavens. In their minds, there was nothing that they couldn't do. Do you know what happened to them? They were scattered to the winds. Legends say that that is where all the different languages come from. It's a story that only has a smattering of truth to it, but the point of that story was never to be a historical record. It's a _moral_ record, as are many things in the Bible, reflecting truths that are still true to this day. But things haven't changed, even in all those thousands of years. But what's going to happen if I don't interfere now is going to be hundreds of times worse than at any time in the past. You ask why you should trust me. It's a fair question. Almost everyone - even my most ardent followers - asks that question at one time or other in their lives. Why should you trust me?"

He let the question hang in the air for a little while, and watched the little bird have its fill of worms and fly away.

He shrugged. "Why shouldn't you?", he asked.

She gaped. "What?", she said, completely not expecting that question.

"Why shouldn't you trust me? Yes, I've done everything you've accused me of. I've upset the apple cart quite a bit and I will upset it quite a bit more before things are where they need to be. But yes, I could have just come here on a silver horse and told everyone 'this is how things are going to be right now', and I didn't do that. Do you know why I didn't do that? I didn't do that because I love and respect people too much to do that. Sometimes I have to intervene, but can you truly accuse me of doing any more than was absolutely necessary than to right wrongs that _even you_ knew were wrong? And can you truly accuse me of doing any more than the bare minimum to accomplish the goal of removing corruption and ensuring true justice for everyone?"

She thought for a moment. Finally she shook her head. "I can't. I can't think of any way you could have accomplished what you have without doing exactly what you did and no more."

"That's because there isn't any way," he said. "If there were, I would have done it. Actually, I take that back a little bit. If I had a lot more time, I could probably have done it in a much less disruptive way. But I've been sitting back for thousands of years, working in the shadows, trying to cajole people to work with me, and while it's in some ways worked astonishingly well, I just don't have the time in this case. We're on a cusp in history and the next few decades will determine whether the human race lives or dies. I'm not exaggerating, Amelia. It's that bad.

'So why shouldn't you trust me?", he asked again.

She thought for a moment. "Because I don't know you," she finally answered.

"Aha," he said. "I'm not sure there's ever been a truer answer to that question.

"What would I have to do for you to trust me?", he asked.

She shook her head. "I really don't know. How do you get to know someone like you?"

He nodded. "Well, I could tell you that I'm always here and you can talk to me at any time, and it would be true. You only need ask and I will answer. You need not kneel or do any of those things that religions think I demand. Would that be a start?"

She nodded.

"The trick is that you have to learn to hear me when I answer. Most people don't." He sighed sadly. "How many times have I tried to answer people and they don't even hear me. But I have another idea."

He snapped his fingers, and a small book appeared in front of her.

"This is a Bible," he said. "In it is a fairly good description of my life before the ritual I had to undertake to become who I am, what the ritual was, and what I endured. You don't need to read any of the books but the first four books of the 'New Testament' to gather that information. Of course you can if you want, but I know parts of it can be as boring as reports on cauldron bottoms. Just read those four books, please. Or even just one of them. As a favor to me. It's the best answer I can give to why you should trust me. You need to understand what I sacrificed to be in the position I am to do the things I am. It was not easy, Amelia," he said sadly.

She nodded. "I'll give you a chance. I'll read one of the books. If I have questions, will you answer?"

"All you have to do is ask, Amelia. As is the case with anyone."

"Alright," she said. "I'll do that. As a favor to you."

"Thank you," he said. "And as I said, you ask, and I answer. Just try to hear my answer when I do. I _always_ answer, but people don't always hear.

"One more thing, Amelia, before I go. At the Wizengamot meeting coming up, Harry asked you to introduce him as the 'emissary of magic'. Please don't do that. I understand his reasoning, and he is probably right that it would make things easier, but he is masking the truth. I don't think he's ashamed of me, but I do think he's trying to keep the apple cart at least somewhat upright. But this apple cart has to be thoroughly tipped. Please introduce him as the 'Champion of Yeshua', and make sure it is absolutely clear who he is speaking for. I'll make sure he is aware of why you're doing it. If he's annoyed enough, I'm sure he'll take it up with me. Remember, I don't smite for honesty," he said, chuckling to himself.

"Anyway, I should be off. Just read, and talk to me, and trust will grow in time. If I may make a suggestion, there are quite a few of my followers at Hogwarts right now. Maybe you should have a chat with them too, find out why they trust and follow me. It might prove enlightening. My followers at that school, at least the ones directly involved in my efforts at the moment, are Lady Ravenclaw, The Flamels, Harry, of course, and a couple of other first years. Reach out to any of them. Listen to their stories. Maybe that will help. I don't _need_ your trust, Amelia, but I would like it. Give me a chance."

Amelia nodded. "I'll try."

"That's all I can ask of you. I need to take my leave now. I may not return to speak with you in person again, but I'm always but a thought away. Don't lose hope, Amelia," he said, and with a smile, he faded out.

She sat at her table for a long while, staring at the book he left her. Shrugging, she picked it up, flipped to what seemed to be the right page, and started to read.

A half an hour later, she set the book down with tears in her eyes. It was a very complicated story, and she didn't get half of the references, but there were definitely some things she understood. Pontius Pilate was the character she sympathized with the most, even though he made the wrong decision in her eyes. He was trying to do the right thing, but the crowd wasn't having it, and in order to keep order, he made a decision that he wasn't comfortable with at all that killed an innocent man, similar to the decision Crouch had to make ten years ago, which was also the wrong one. But she did understand now the sacrifice that Yeshua had made in order for the ritual to take hold. She didn't understand everything about what it meant, but at the very least, in the stories, he'd done nothing to make her distrust him. That was a start, anyway.

**Entrance Hall, Hogwarts**

Harry waited somewhat nervously at the entrance hall, wearing the clothes he had quickly procured. He had been assured by the shopkeeper that they were not casual, but not too dressy either, and he was reasonably comfortable with how he appeared. There was an anxiety in the pit of his stomach that he couldn't name, but he pushed it down. He kept his promises as much as he was able.

Daphne appeared in the entrance hall as well, wearing a modest but pretty blue dress that complimented her eyes well. She looked nervous as well, but like she had herself pretty well under control.

"You are very pretty today, Daphne," he said, partly because it was what he was supposed to say, and partly because he meant it. "I like what you've done with your hair."

She smiled and blushed prettily. "You clean up pretty well yourself, Harry. Shall we go?"

He steeled himself. Daphne did not miss that. "Harry, are you alright?", she asked, concernedly.

"Just a little anxious," he said quietly. "I'll make do."

A flicker of doubt crossed her face. "If you say so," she said, and they walked together out to the entrance gates.

She held out a small gem. "This is the portkey to my house. My father had it made. Please touch it." He did so, and with the activation word, he found himself spinning with Daphne until he landed just outside the wards. He immediately decided that this was not his favorite way to travel.

They arrived just outside the house, and Daphne ran to the door, where her father was waiting for her. He picked her up and pun her around, and then they hugged for quite a long time.

"I missed you, princess", her father said, he Harry felt a lump rise in his stomach.

Finally she let go, and her father turned his attention to Harry.

"Lord Potter', he said, "It's nice to finally meet you."

"Nice to meet you, too," he croaked out, and Daphne looked at him askance. He did not look well. She heard a small voice in her head saying "This isn't going to end well. Cut this short."

Daphne looked at her parents. "Mum, Dad, I don't think this is going to work. Don't blame Harry, blame me. We're going to reschedule this dinner. I'll explain later". Then she grabbed Harry and activated the Portkey back to Hogwarts.

They arrived back and Harry did not look well at all. There were tears brimming in his eyes, and he looked like he was very close to having a panic attack. Being eleven years old, she had no idea what to do, so she went to her grandmother, dragging Harry along behind her.

**Ophelia Greengrass' quarters**

Daphne ran to her grandmother's quarters, and fortunately she was in. She appeared to be reading a book, and as Daphne burst in, dragging a clearly unwell Harry behind her, she was very startled, and then very concerned. "What happened, Daphne?"

Daphne panted - she was a bit out of breath. She led Harry to a chair where he sat down and put his head in his hands. He didn't just feel sick, he felt like he was going to die.

"I took Harry to my house for dinner with my parents. He didn't look very comfortable, but when he left, he started looking worse and worse, and when he met my parents, he was obviously about to completely lose it. I cut it short, told my parents not to blame me, and took him back to Hogwarts. I dragged him up here because I didn't know what to do."

Ophelia sighed. "I think I know what this is," she said, "even though I don't know why. We need to get him to Madame Pomfrey for a calming draught." She picked him up effortlessly and all three of them walked over to the hospital wing.

**Hospital Wing**

Harry was carried into the hospital wing by Ophelia. Madame Pomphrey bustled over. "What's wrong here?", she asked concernedly, as she prepared a bed for Harry."

"I think he's having a panic attack," Ophelia said. His eyes were wide open, he was gasping for air, and it looked as if he were going to throw up.

"I think you're right, but let me run a quick diagnostic just to rule anything else out," Pomphrey said. She waved her wand over him, and sighed. "Elevated heart rate, slight pulmonary distress, but nothing else out of the ordinary. I think you're right. I'll go get a calming draught," she said, and went off to get one.

Daphne looked at her grandmother, who shook her head as to say "not yet."

Pomphrey came back with a calming draught, and told him to drink it. He did, reluctantly, and slowly started to calm down. Pomphrey decided the best thing to do was to let them deal with their 'family matters', now that he was calming down a little, and bustled off to tend to other things.

Finally Ophelia sat at the edge of the bed, and Daphne followed suit.

"What happened, Harry?", Ophelia asked, gently.

"That was embarrassing," he said sadly, looking at Daphne. "Your parents will probably never want to talk to me again."

"It's alright, Harry," Ophelia said. "I'll smooth things over. Sometimes these things can't be helped. But what happened?", she asked again.

"Daphne," he said, "Do you remember when you said that I was eventually going to tell you my secrets? I'm not meaning to ignore you, Lady Greengrass, but this is an important part of my story."

She nodded. "Yes, I remember that. I was only joking," she said.

"No, you weren't," he said. "But it's okay. You weren't entirely wrong. I have many secrets, Daphne, and I am about to show you one of my biggest."

He sat up in his bed, and started unbuttoning his robes. Daphne and Ophelia looked shocked, but he calmed them with a look. "Believe me, I wouldn't do this if it weren't necessary," he said. So they waited patiently, as he wriggled out of his robes, then took off his shirt. "It's okay, it stops here," he said. Then he turned around so they could see his back. It was cris-crossed with scars, some of them looked like they had been very deep at one point.

Daphne had tears in her eyes. "Harry, what-", but Ophelia shushed her. She knew.

"You not being raised with magicals is only a part of the story, isn't it, Harry?"

He nodded. "Dumbledore ignored my parents' wishes and put my with my 'relatives', my mother's sister. She and her husband hated me. They treated me like no more than a house elf. They shoved me into a cupboard under the stairs without food for days. They beat me with a belt, and when their son, Dudley, caught me, he and his friends beat me up - and then I got punished when I got home for being dirty and bloody." The calming draught had taken full effect and he was speaking somewhat mechanically at this point.

Ophelia nodded. "Let me guess. That was the first real family you had ever seen other than them, and you couldn't bear it."

He nodded, still somewhat mechanically.

Ophelia's face was grim. No more explanation was needed. Daphne looked confused.

"I will speak to Cyrus, then I will speak to Madame Bones. Dumbledore may be out of our reach, but your relatives are not. Harry, marriage contracts are taken very seriously in our culture. When one is signed, particularly by two parents for children that already exist, they become family in a very real way. If that were not the case, there would be no purpose for a marriage contract, do you understand?"

Harry nodded. "I think so," he said.

"The fact that you were left with your relatives is unforgivable for many reasons, not the least being that we could have taken you in. But we were never given the option. Nonetheless, if we are to take our marriage contract at _all_ seriously, we must do everything in our power to right this grievous wrong. At the moment, you are, through no fault of your own, not fit to be a husband for my granddaughter. But that doesn't remove the contract, nor am I saying it should.'

"Then what _are_ you saying, Lady Greengrass?", he asked quietly.

"I am saying that whoever put you with your relatives is not the only one who did you wrong. We should have not assumed that you were being done right by. And I'm saying that we need to fix that. Stay here with Madame Pomphrey for however long she asks. I recommend, and I think she will as well, that you start seeing the mind healer that the school has made available. I will take care of things on our end. Don't fear having turned Cyrus away. He doesn't know the circumstances. I will make sure he does."

"He and his wife are the only ones who can know, Lady Greengrass. It's still a secret, one I shared in confidence"

"Harry, I _must_ tell Madame Bones. I am a professor at this school and reporting abuse is one of my responsibilities. But it will go no further than her and those that must investigate the crimes perpetrated on you, that I promise."

He sighed. "That will have to do."

"I will take my leave. Daphne, please feel free to stay until Madam Pomphrey kicks you out."

Daphne nodded, and Ophelia left the room.

Daphne sat on the edge of her bed, fidgeting with the edge of her robes. "Are all of your secrets this dark, Harry?", she asked quietly.

"No," he said. "This is my darkest secret. But it is fair to say that this is likely the least shocking."

"The least shocking?", she asked, astonished. "What could be more shocking than that?"

He smiled without much humor. "You would be surprised, Daphne."

She sighed, still playing with the hem of her robes. "I imagine I might. But I also wonder if much could shock me anymore."

She scooted over next to him. "Harry, please do something for me."

"What?"

"Lay down on your side. With your back facing me."

"Why?", he asked, some of the fear coming back.

"Just do it," she demanded. And he did. He was trembling, even through the calming draught.

She carefully took her finger, and traced each scar from its beginning to its end. Initially, he jumped at the contact, but started to relax. Soon his trembling stopped, and he sighed with contentment.

"I'm just eleven, Harry. I haven't been through what you have. I have no idea what you experienced, or what it means, or frankly anything. I'm confused and I don't know what to do or say. But these are a part of you now, Harry, and family accepts you as you are. I don't think any less of you for your scars, Harry, or your secrets."

She reached down and kissed one of his scars, a chaste kiss. "Family sticks together, Harry. Always and forever." She stroked his hair a couple of times, then stood up and walked out the door.

He was asleep before the door closed.

A/N: This was a really hard chapter to write. The dinner with Cyrus was not supposed to turn out this way. But this morning I was really in a funk, still am to a degree, and realized that Harry has not dealt with the abuse from his relatives. He's just been pushing it aside, hoping that it will go away. But his first exposure to a real family broke the dam. No one, not even him, expected that kind of reaction, but it's completely understandable. It's a reaction I've had sometimes as well, and those who were on the other end were not nearly as kind.

Is this going to be an H/D fic? Eh. Again, they're both eleven. But she's taking it seriously, even at eleven, and that does count for a lot, wouldn't you say?

It's also a short chapter, but meh. As I said, I'm in a funk again.


	7. Allies and Secrets Revealed

**Aftermath**

**Hospital Wing**

When Harry started waking up, he faintly heard the sound of two feet running towards the door and the door closing. He looked for his glasses and found them on the stand next to him. Madame Pomphrey bustled up to him.

"I want you to stay here overnight, young man, but otherwise you're perfectly healthy, so you can leave tomorrow morning. Please take advantage of the mind healer. This is not something that I can heal you from using potions, but if you need help for the short term, come see me. I suspect you will be having some visitors shortly. They can stay for a while but I want you to get a good night's sleep, alright?"

He sighed. "Alright. It's been a hard week anyway. I probably should rest some."

"That's the spirit," she said. "Oh, here come your visitors now. I'll come around when it's lights out. Try not to overexert yourself," she said, and bustled off while his visitors came in. There were Daphne and Ophelia, who he knew, but also a man, woman, and younger child that he didn't.

"Harry," Ophelia said, "I brought some visitors. This is my son, Cyrus, his wife, Iris, and Daphne's younger sister, Astoria."

Harry looked like he wanted to crawl under his blankets and never come out.

"Do you mind if we sit down, Mr. Potter?", Cyrus said. Harry gestured magnanimously, and they all pulled up a seat. Astoria was bouncing around like a dog who hadn't been let out to play in too long, and Iris actually had to put a hand on her shoulder to calm her.

Harry sighed. "You can call me Harry. Please pardon my frankness, but it's been a long day. Week, actually. Why are you here? I just screwed up the first dinner between our families in ten years, and I know that you were already a little upset about my lack of knowledge of your world to begin with."

Cyrus gave a baleful look to Ophelia, who glanced back as if to say "you made your bed, Cyrus."

Cyrus sighed. "My mum filled us in on why you reacted the way you did, and I think I owe you an apology, Harry."

"Come again?", he said, astonished.

"I signed the marriage contract with your father in hopes of cementing an alliance between our families. Then he had to go and get himself killed." He looked like he could use a firewhiskey. "I'm sorry, that was insensitive, he was your father, but it still smarts a bit even after ten years. Then we lost track of you. We assumed that you had been put in a decent house, where maybe you wouldn't be aware of all of our ways, but you would be raised with a decent magical education, with knowledge of who you were. We expected a young man who was ready to take the wizard world by storm… maybe not immediately, but in a few years.

"Instead, nothing. No contact, not even an indication that you knew who we were. I took that personally, Harry. I assumed too much. Far, far too much", he said, sadly.

"And then today I found out why you reacted the way you did, and I owe you far more than an apology."

"What do you mean?"

"When we signed that marriage contract, we pledged to combine our families. Yes, I know that you might find it inconvenient and barbaric, and I'd even be willing to stipulate to that, but that's what we were trying to do. Family doesn't let what happened to you, happen. I am a Lord in the Wizengamot, Harry. I could have asserted considerable pressure to find out where you were and how you were treated. But I assumed."

Harry sighed. "You weren't the only one, Lord Greengrass."

"Call me Cyrus. It's the least you deserve."

"Any member of the Wizengamot could have applied the same pressure. Either no one did, or it came to naught. I happen to know I was placed where I was by Albus Dumbledore."

"Dumbledore? But he was the Chief Warlock-"

"Exactly," he said. "He didn't want me found, so I wasn't found."

Cyrus sighed. He looked like he _really_ could use a firewhiskey. "So where do we go from here?", he asked. "The marriage contract is still in effect, but I'd understand completely if you wanted nothing more to do with us. We really did you wrong, Harry. The whole wizard world did."

Harry chuckled. "And here I was thinking you'd want nothing to do with me, after today."

"Maybe in most situations, Harry. But not this one. Especially after mum explained why."

He looked at Astoria, who was still bouncing around, pretty much ignoring everything around her, and looking like she would like nothing more than to run around the castle and cause trouble, which was not too far from the truth. Then he looked at Daphne, who was playing with the hem of her robes and biting her lower lip. Then he looked at Cyrus and his wife, who looked as remorseful as he'd ever seen two people.

Finally he looked back at Daphne. "What do you think?", he asked, surprising her parents.

She continued playing with the hem of her robes, and her piercing blue eyes were a little watery. "I think when you signed the marriage contract, Father, you made him family. I think we let him down in every conceivable way. But family sticks together. Do I want to marry him? Not right now. I'm only eleven. I don't even have breasts," she said, and looked down at her nonexistent chest, blushing a little. "I don't know half of what happened today, and the other half I don't want to know. But I saw the scars on his back, Father", she said, quietly. "I touched them. And I told him that family sticks together, always and forever."

A tear streamed down her face. "We're not leaving him now," she said. "I don't want to add more wrong to the wrong this world has already done to him. We're not doing that to him. Father, he is family. You made him so. Do not treat him like a suitor for me. Treat him like a son. That's the least he deserves from you. When the time comes, we will deal with the contract. It is not that time." She wiped the tear off her face.

Cyrus nodded. "Out of the mouths of babes," he said, wonderingly. "How did you get so wise, Daphne?", he asked.

"It's not wisdom, Father. It's doing the right thing. You always taught me to do the right thing. Do as you taught me."

Iris nodded at her husband. "She's right, Cyrus. It's the least he deserves from us."

"So be it," said Cyrus.

Harry spoke up. "Cyrus, I've never had a father. I'm afraid I don't even know what to do with one."

Cyrus nodded. "Understandable. That will come in time. But we will file the formal guardianship papers as soon as possible. Who was your previous guardian?"

"I have no idea."

"Well, that doesn't speak well for whoever it was, then. We'll get all of that straightened out. Harry, you have a solemn promise from all of us. We'll do right by you. Alright?"

Harry smiled. "Alright."

"Let's let Harry get some rest, then," Iris said. "Daphne, you may stay with him until it's time for you to go, but we all need to get home."

"Thank you, mother," Daphne said, and watched as they all walked out the door.

She turned to Harry. "You know, this doesn't make you my brother, right?"

He smiled. "I think Astoria wil be plenty enough little sister."

Daphne laughed loudly at that. "Oh, how right you are," she said, still chuckling. "That girl is a handful."

"Someday you will be too, at _least_," he said, and looked at her chest. She blushed and swatted him. "Harry!", she squeaked, scandalized. But she couldn't hold her stern look and burst into giggles. "I hope so," she said, still giggling. He averted his eyes and smirked a bit. Flirting was more fun than he thought.

Her face turned serious. "I'm serious, Harry. I've been told all my life that I'm going to marry Harry Potter, and now that I've met you, I don't think I'm going to let you go without a fight."

"Why?", he said. "I'm just me."

"Yes," she said. "You are. And so far, that's the best reason I can think of."

He smiled. "Keep that up, Miss Greengrass, and you might not have to fight."

She stroked his hair. He sighed in contentment. "The future is just that. We have a long way to go, Harry. Both with my family, with your health, and our… development." She subconsciously looked at her chest and blushed. "But Greengrasses keep their promises."

Harry smiled. "That, my dear Daphne, is far more valuable than gold."

She blushed gently and continued stroking his hair until Madam Pomphrey tossed her out. He slept very well that night.

**Rowena Ravenclaw's Office**

After being released from the hospital wing, he was feeling quite a bit better. He at least knew what the triggers were for his panic attack, so it would be a long road of recovery for that. But it led to what he thought was a pretty good thing. He would still need to talk to Yeshua about it. But first, he had a promise to keep. Potters keep their promises too, he thought.

He knocked on Rowena's door, and she said "enter", as always seemed to happen. He walked in and this time she seemed to be expecting him.

"Sit. Explain.", she commanded, and said nothing more.

Harry had a bit of a smirk on his face. "Hello to you as well, Rowena. I'm fine, thank you. And you?"

"We'll take care of the pleasantries _after_ you tell me why you are expecting Hogwarts to accommodate seven non-magicals."

He sighed. "Fine. But I'm starting from the beginning. A few days ago, I had a conversation with Madame Bones. As you know, we've been having a lot of ongoing discussions about how to handle law enforcement, what with what the first years are being taught, and Yeshua agreed to raise seven judges that would be capable of rendering Judgement according to Yeshua's will and Britain's law."

Rowena's mouth dropped open.

"Yes, Rowena. The judges are non-magical."

"Harry, what made you - "

He held up his hand. "_I_ didn't do anything, Rowena. This is all Yeshua. Take it up with him if you don't like it. It was as much a surprise to me as it was to you, and I've already had this discussion with him."

She put her head in her hands. "Can you imagine what ripples this is going to cause…", she said, forlornly.

Harry shook his head. "I can't even begin to imagine. Anyway, they won't be here for the long term. We'll have to find some place for them to live that is accessible via both magical and non-magical means. Hell, we might have to build special housing for them."

"Why can't they stay in a magical place?"

"Because I have my suspicions about magic, light, and why electronic things don't work in Hogwarts, and if I'm right, we don't want non-magical people staying here long term without special warding or construction. It could make them sick. But a couple of weeks shouldn't be a big deal."

"We'll have that conversation another time. I'm curious as to what you suspect. What are you going to do about this?", she asked.

"Well, I guess I'm going to tell them what their job is, find or build them a permanent place to live that's safe, and flip over the apple cart at the Wizengamot and see what happens."

She sighed. "As good a plan as any, I suppose."

"Anyway, I promised you an explanation. Are you satisfied with it?"

"As much as I can be, I suppose," she said. "They're certainly not a threat to the school, and other than a bit of complaining about their electronic devices burning out, they're just biding their time."

"How many have shown up?"

"Three so far. One of them is with child."

He shook his head. "Oh, Yeshua… really?" He heard a chuckle in his head.

"The weak humble the strong," he heard in his head.

"Well, please let me know when all seven arrive and I'll take it from there. I guess soon I need to find them appropriate accommodations." He sighed. He wasn't sure how to solve this one. But there was time. He did have an idea, though.

"Rowena, I have a question about Hogwarts. Namely, what you can do with it."

"Almost anything," she said.

"It's the 'almost' part that makes me ask the question. I mentioned earlier that I suspected I knew what caused many of the phenomena that causes non-magical electricity and electronics to stop working, and why I think spells create light. It's hard to describe to someone who hasn't studied muggle science, but I believe that magic, as it functions, creates electromagnetic waves of varying frequencies. Some are low frequency but very high power, some are high frequency but lower power, and some… may be both. I _suspect_ \- and again, this is only a suspicion, that one of the reasons that magical people live longer than nonmagical people is that our ability to manipulate magic gives us a tolerance to radiation, that under prolonged exposure, would give non-magical people cancer. Haven't you ever wondered why it's such a prevalent disease for non-magicals, but we almost never see it?"

She thought. "This causes problems," she said. "It means that the magical and non-magical may never be able to interact for prolonged periods of time. It's either no wards or lowered life expectancy of non-magicals."

"That's correct. I honestly don't think this will come even close to resolved until we can get some non-magical scientists to figure out what it is that makes some humans able to use magic and some not. But there is a workaround. Do you know what a 'faraday cage' is?"

She shook her head.

"It is a metal cage that is embedded in the walls of a room that grounds out all electromagnetic fields, either inside or outside, so that they can't penetrate. I was wondering if you could create such a thing in specially created rooms at Hogwarts. If the non-magicals spend the majority of their time in that shielded area, they may be able to live without danger, or at least not nearly as much. It will only be temporary as I intend to get some non-magical scientists on the problem of why we are different in the first place."

She nodded. "That might be doable. What kind of cage does it need to be?"

"It needs to be as seamless as possible - even the doors should connect to the rest of the room when closed. It should be a good conductor, like copper, aluminium, gold, or silver. And it should be grounded - there should be a conductor going into the ground at the base of the castle connected to the cage. Whichever conductor you use, it should be the same throughout. Using different conductors together can lead to corrosion. Is this something you can do?"

She thought. "Let me give it some thought."

He nodded. "If we intend on letting non-magical scientists in on what we're doing, we'll need something like this anyway to prevent the massive electromagnetic fields created by the wards from interfering with their experiments. If you can, please do it. I was thinking a common room with private rooms, and maybe we can figure out how to make non-magical entertainment work. If, of course, my theory is correct.

She shrugged. "It's worth a try. Hogwarts' senses are not configured to detect electromagnetic radiation, but I will see if I can figure out how to do that. I hear Professor Flamel put some non-magical science books in the library, I'll read into exactly what that entails. If it's possible, I can do it. Besides, it would be good to know if your suspicion is correct. That insight alone could inspire many new branches of research."

"Then that's all I ask. If it's not, can you please let me know so we can try something else?"

She nodded. "It seems a reasonable request."

"And if my suspicion is correct, please let me know too. It might be possible to make metallic clothing for the non-magicals so that they will at least be somewhat protected when walking around the magical areas. It won't protect them from magic itself for the most part, though I can imagine some spells seeing it as an external obstruction and unravelling, but it will protect most of them."

"Except their head."

He thought. "You know, that gives me an idea. I'll let you know."

She frowned. "That seems to never lead to anything good," she half-joked.

He sighed. "Sadly, you're right. This one's not bad, though. Just might make things a bit interesting when the judges are introduced."

"You're not thinking - "

"Yep." He smiled.

She facepalmed. "Well, let me know what you come up with."

"Will do," he said jauntily, and after saying their goodbyes, he left.

Harry sent a magical message to Cyrus Greengrass asking for a meeting in the afternoon, and then he headed up to the Room in the "Luna" configuration. He'd have to ask her to come up with some more configurations for the room, she apparently had a real knack for it. Luna must have been off doing something else, because she wasn't there. He didn't bother conjuring a chair, and just sat down in the clearing. "Yeshua, can we chat?", he asked.

Yeshua, as usual, faded in. "What's going on?", he said.

Harry sighed. "Why did that happen at the Greengrass' yesterday? I thought it was going to go so well, and then it all went, pardon the expression, to hell."

Yeshua sat down next to Harry and watched the colorful fish. It seemed to be one of his favorite things to do other than sipping water.

"Harry, wounds don't often heal by themselves. If left to themselves, they just sit there and fester until something breaks them open. You can't expect to have lived the childhood you did and not suffer some wounds. Some pretty grievous wounds, actually," he said. "In one sense, this makes you a perfect champion for me. In some ways, your wounds define you and they always will. When you need to be a 'rampaging dragon', your wounds make you particularly insensitive to the individual consequences of your actions. And sometimes I need that of you."

He paused. "But the Greengrasses are correct about many things, Harry. And the thing they're most correct about is that family is something you have never truly had. It was taken from you through no fault of your own. And if what had happened last night had never happened, then maybe you would never have found the family you did."

Harry thought for a while. "Can I trust them, Yeshua?"

Yeshua chuckled. "That's a tough question. I can't answer it for you. I _can_ tell you that they told you no lies last night and that there was no deception. They can be deceptive and cunning when the situation calls for it, but they weren't last night. But can you trust them? Maybe the better question is, _will_ you trust them?"

Harry stared at the colorful fish swimming along too. The sunlight danced through the shadows of the leaves, making patterns on both him and Yeshua, as well as the clearing they were both sitting in.

"I have to tell Cyrus," he said. "Please don't ask me not to. I can't keep that kind of secret from him."

Yeshua nodded. "I can see that," he said quietly. "If you are not forthcoming now, then the question becomes, can he trust you? And that's a whole other thing entirely. I will help where I can. But Harry, he wants to become your guardian. There are times when I will ask things from you that he may not approve of. You must not just say 'Yeshua said to do this', or 'Yeshua said to do that', even if I did. Do what I say, but respect his opinion. There may be times where I allow him to modify my request, but you'll never know if you run roughshod over him, and you'll damage your relationship in the process. Even if I don't, at least you'll have discussed it with him, and that will count for a lot. You've never had a father, Harry. At least allow him to play the role as much as possible."

Harry nodded. "I think I understand."

Yeshua went back to staring at the fish. "Harry, one other thing before you go, as I think you'll find that Cyrus is waiting for you."

He checked the note in his pocket, and indeed, he was.

"You have many friends, far more than you did the day before you came to Hogwarts. They all have different roles in your life, and some of them are to be closer than brothers or sisters. I refuse to tell you whether Daphne is your intended or not. But I do have this caution: she is taking it… you... seriously. Do not disrespect that. Even if for some reason it doesn't work out, do not disrespect her loyalty. Loyalty is difficult to earn and very easy to lose, and yesterday, she showed a loyalty and intelligence that far belies her age. She protected you and stood up for you. Respect that. This is important."

Harry nodded. "I'll do my best. Thanks, Yeshua."

Yeshua smiled. "Anytime. Luna really did outdo herself on this. Next time you see her, will you ask her to come up with something else? I want to see what she comes up with."

Harry smiled. "My pleasure," he said, "I have the same curiosity."

"Luna is a special girl. She is not Daphne, but she is just as loyal, and her heart is wide open. You have some very good friends, Harry. That is not an accident."

Harry nodded. "I know," he said. And with a smile, Yeshua faded out. And then so did Harry.

**Cyrus Greengrass' Office**

Cyrus Greengrass was sitting in his office when a small note appeared on his desk.

_Cyrus, May I have a moment of your time? If so simply press the spot marked "yes". If you would prefer to see me at a specific time, please mark that on the note before pressing "yes" and I'll be there._

_Thank you,_

_Harry Potter_

Huh, Cyrus thought. That's some pretty advanced charm work. He pressed the button marked "yes", which caused the note to disappear, and then went back to what he was doing. He figured Harry would show up at the door.

He was thus surprised when, a few minutes later, Harry appeared silently in his office. He had gone for his wand before he realized who his visitor was, and tried to pull himself together. Finally, after a few seconds, he managed. "Harry?", he sputtered. "How did you get past the wards?"

"May I have a seat, Cyrus?", he said calmly, and Cyrus waved at a chair, which Harry sat down in.

"Actually, that's part of what we need to talk about. If you're serious about becoming my guardian," and he held up his hand, "and I'm not saying you're not, there are some things you need to know. I have told Daphne that I have some secrets. The one she discovered yesterday was my darkest, but not my most shocking. Daphne wondered what could be more shocking than that. I'm about to tell you. If you don't want to be my guardian after I tell you, I'll understand," he said mournfully.

"What could possibly be that bad?", Cyrus said, worriedly.

"Not bad," Harry said. "Just shocking."

"Well, out with it then," Cyrus said, sounding a little like Rowena.

"Do you remember a couple of weeks ago when Azkaban fell?"

"How could I not? That was one of the most disruptive things to happen to our world in a long time!", he exclaimed.

"It is but the first of many," Harry said. "And I was the one who destroyed Azkaban."

"You?", Cyrus said, disbelievingly. "You're but eleven years old."

"I am," he said, "but in some ways, I'm thirty-eight. And I have absolute magical authority over all of Britain."

Cyrus leaned back. "I think you'd better explain. From the beginning."

And Harry did. When he was finished, Cyrus' mouth was agape and he looked like his entire world was just uprooted.

"So let me get this straight. You have the knowledge, skills, and abilities from your thirty-eight year self in an alternate timeline, and not only that, but you've been chosen by Yeshua, a man who undertook a ritual two thousand years ago to become one with magic and the absolute ruler of the Universe, to be his champion in Britain?"

Harry nodded. "That's about it," he said.

Cyrus went and grabbed a bottle of firewhiskey and poured himself a shot with shaking hands. "This is a lot to take in, Harry. Basically, either I believe you or you're a raving lunatic."

Harry nodded. "Those are the only two choices. I suppose a bit of a demonstration would be in order?"

Cyrus nodded shakily. "I'm a little afraid of what a 'bit of a demonstration' might entail, but I'll humor you. Go ahead."

Harry thought for a moment. What would be nondestructive, but suitably impressive? Ahh, he thought, I've got it.

"I've thought of a suitable demonstration, but we'll have to go outside for it. Do you mind terribly?"

"Not at all", Cyrus said, and found himself and Harry on a grassy plain that appeared to stretch for miles except for a few trees scattered around. There was not a cloud in the sky. A shield appeared around them both.

"You'll see why in a moment," Harry said, and raised his hand to the sky. "Magic, I command a thunderstorm."

A small cloud appeared directly above their heads, and started to grow, faster and faster, until drops of rain started hitting their shield. The sky grew darker and darker as the clouds began to spread, and lightning started stabbing the ground all around them. Hailstones started bouncing off the shield, and the thunder was deafening, until finally a lightning bolt directly hit the shield and surrounded them with light. Harry started pointing at random things and as he pointed, lightning struck them. He was being careful not to cause damage to anything living other than trees, but he was proving his point quite well. Cyrus finally screamed over the din, "Enough! You've made your point!". Harry lowered his hand, and the storm vanished, as if it were never there, though hailstones continued to litter the ground around them. They found themselves back in Cyrus' office, where he poured himself a much more generous helping of firewhiskey.

"Well," Harry said casually. "That should confuse the blokes over at the Meteorological Office pretty thoroughly. Do you need a further demonstration?"

"I think that was quite sufficient," Cyrus said, still shaking from the sheer intensity of the thunderstorm he had just witnessed. "You were in complete control of that storm, weren't you?"

"Absolutely," Harry said. "That's why I chose a place where there wasn't a living thing for miles. That's the kind of storm that can cause severe damage. That kind of damage isn't worth proving a point, though a few trees might think differently. If I'd let it continue it might have spawned a tornado. Oh," he said casually, "Magic, I command that the trees be restored to their previous state." He smiled. "That's not worth proving a point either."

Cyrus sighed. "Alright, Harry. I believe you. But why?"

Harry sighed. "Now _that_ is a much longer story. The short answer is, I don't know, not entirely. Yeshua has his own plans and I don't know them all. But I think I can sum it up this way: Yeshua thinks that the non-magicals are coming too close to being able to eradicate the magicals, and that the magicals are too close to either slipping into a feudal state that will spill over into the non-magical world and cause war, or being completely eradicated in the next fifty years."

"It's really that bad?", Cyrus asked.

"Sadly, yes. I think it is. From what Yeshua's explained to me, it's really that bad. I can't really explain all the details because I don't understand them myself, but magic has been deliberately held back from advancing until this moment because Yeshua wants magical and non-magical societies to be on essentially a level playing field. Then he wants to merge them."

"He wants to - what?"

"No more statute of secrecy. But only because it won't be needed anymore."

Cyrus looked longingly at his now empty bottle of firewhiskey.

"I never joined he-who-must-not-be-named", Cyrus said, sitting back in his seat. "I never really believed that purebloods were superior to muggleborns or halfbloods. Magic is magic is magic. But how could non-magicals and magicals exist in harmony?"

Harry shrugged. "It's a tough problem to solve. It will take a long time. But Yeshua is set on making it happen."

Cyrus sighed. A long, drawn-out sigh. "Well, if he can, more power to him. But the most important question: what's _your_ role in all of this?"

"I'm what he calls his 'rampaging dragon'. Sometimes he needs big changes made to society, like the fall of Azkaban for example. Those are what I do. He has other followers that are much better at the more subtle aspects of changing society. He's made it clear to me that some things simply aren't my job."

"If Yeshua wanted you to do something, there's nothing I could do to stop you, is there?"

"Frankly, no."

"Then what's the point of being your guardian?", he asked softly. Harry knew he didn't mean it in a bad way, and he kind of had a point. Being guardian to a "rampaging dragon" out of your control isn't worth a whole lot.

"I talked to Yeshua about that this morning. He told me that it's important that I keep you in the loop on the things I've been told to or are planning on doing. I may end up having to do them anyway, but you are to be, I suppose, one of my trusted advisors. There are rare times where I'll have to ask forgiveness rather than permission, but those are the times when even seconds count. There may be a few of those," he said sadly. "I've made promises to some people that if they call on me in an emergency, I will be there as quickly as possible. Last night showed me you understand the value of loyalty. So do I, Cyrus."

Cyrus thought for a moment. "We made a promise last night, Harry. We're not going back on it."

Harry let out a breath he didn't know he was holding.

"But I'm holding you to what you just said, too. When you can, tell me what you're going to do. I may not be able to stop you, but I might have some insights into the political world that may help you."

Harry nodded. "That's what Yeshua said, too. That's fair. And in that spirit, let me tell you what's going to go down at the next Wizengamot meeting."

A few minutes later, Cyrus went to find another bottle of firewhiskey.

"Merlin, you weren't kidding about the 'rampaging dragon' bit, were you, Harry?", he said, belching a little from a third shot.

"I didn't ask for any of this, Cyrus. But it's my job now."

Cyrus sighed. "I get it, Harry. We get you, we get the whole deal. But as I said, we keep our promises. You have our support."

"Thank you, Cyrus," Harry said with no small relief. "Should I tell Daphne?"

Cyrus thought. "Someday you'll have to, Harry. If you two decide to go through with the contract, that's not the kind of thing you want to spring on a woman on her wedding night. But I'd wait just a little longer until she's a little more grown up. She knows you have secrets, you did tell her that, right?"

"I did," Harry said.

"Then she knows you will tell her in time. It might be a bit hard for her to adjust in the short term when you do, but I'll do my best to help you both through it.

"I know I must seem completely shocked, Harry, and I am, but I think I understand just a bit what Yeshua's getting at. He's trying to make a better world, and you're one of his instruments to do that. You're very privileged, Harry, and so am I to even be within your sphere of influence. Just keep your word, Harry, and I'll keep mine." He raised his hand to forestall the inevitable. "Mistakes will happen, Harry. On both our parts. Let's just promise each other we won't let pride get in the way of fixing them, alright?"

Harry nodded. 'I promise."

Cyrus nodded. "I as well. Could you leave me with some time to think, Harry? I've been on the Wizengamot for many years. You can't avoid tipping the apple cart with this, but maybe I can at least help you speak in their language."

"That would be much appreciated." He concentrated, and a small pocketwatch appeared in his hands. He handed it to Cyrus. "If you need to contact me, just grasp it firmly in your whole hand for five seconds. I'll be there as soon as I can. If it's an emergency, grasp it twice within two seconds."

"Thank you Harry. Let's talk this week about starting to get your affairs in order. I suspect you have many rights and responsibilities that you are not at all aware of."

"Sounds good to me. Please give Iris and Daphne my regards. Until then," he said, and faded out.

A/N: This appears to be edging a bit more towards H/D, though I still make no promises. Any pairing is years away. I think Cyrus will make a great ally for Harry. He will be a very grounding influence, and maybe temper his "rampaging" just a bit.

Harry knows some of the things he does because he's been talking to Hermione off-screen. If I were to write _every single interaction_ then the book would be dragging on even more than it already is, and I haven't even yet gotten to the apple cart tipping. But I do hope the character development is useful. Pairing or not, Daphne is showing herself to be a loyal and nurturing person, and Harry very much needs that in his life. Luna serves a different role entirely - she is the free spirit that Harry sorely lacks, and is a very good cuddle teacher. And Hermione has the book-smarts that he also lacks. Every girl in his life is meaningful to him, in different ways. And that's entirely by design. But Harry will heed Yeshua's advice in the first chapter. No Harem.

Please note that I left out the details of several conversations with Cyrus. We all know what's going on and that just gets boring after a while.

Another short chapter, but this is a good place to stop. It's labor day in the US and I want to get a chapter out before I have to go to work tomorrow. Apple-cart tipping soon! And good ol' Ogden is making a killing..


	8. My Power is Made Perfect in Weakness

**Rowena Ravenclaw's Office, later that day**

Harry knocked on Rowena's door, and she said "enter", as was usually the case. He walked in and sat down. "You wanted to see me?," he asied.

"Yes," she said. "I've been working with Hogwarts to try to figure out how to answer the question you posed earlier. I even went down to the library and read a science book or two. It turns out that Hogwarts already has light sensors, and it was a simple matter to expand those throughout the electromagnetic band. There's a lot more data coming in, and Hogwarts is having a hard time processing it, but it's manageable. It's only looking at a few bands because it doesn't know how to analyze the data otherwise, but the answer to your question is: Yes, Hogwarts, particularly its wards, are throwing off a significant amount of electromagnetic energy. That's the bad news. The good news is that the electromagnetic energy levels are not more than a few times higher than the ambient levels being caused by things like radio transmitters in the non-magical world. The danger is not nonexistent, but it's not quite as bad as you suspected. My guess as to why electrical devices keep blowing out is something called 'induction' relating to the size of the wires they use. But the information I have is incomplete."

Harry sighed with a bit of relief. "That's good news. We can manage this."

"Actually, I have better news," Rowena said. "I took your faraday cage idea and adapted it to magic. I created a ward whose purpose is to reflect electromagnetic energy, excluding visible light. It creates a little of its own, but far, far less than the main wards themselves do. I'm planning on setting this ward inside of the other wards. This should drastically reduce the exposure of everyone in the building to this kind of energy, not just the non-magicals. We seem to have a higher tolerance, but it seems to be something that we're still better off not subjecting ourselves to on a long-term basis. And I can also apply that ward internally to any room or set of rooms we need for long-term housing of non-magicals."

Harry sat back. "That's one problem solved. We need to find some non-magical engineers and scientists. They have tools for measuring these kinds of things that we lack. We could come up with something, I'm sure, but we don't even know what to look for. Please do set up the wards as discussed, and can we come up with something a little… nicer… for our current non-magical guests? It sounds like this ward may allow us to create a place where electricity can be used."

"It can, but any ideas how to generate it?"

"Not a one. I only have the foggiest idea of how electricity works that I learned in primary school, but it's not enough to tell you how to do this."

Rowena thought. "Well, if our wards inherently create electromagnetic fields, and I can create a ward that can reflect it, can I create something where magic creates electricity?"

Harry smiled. "I don't know, can you?"

Rowena sighed. "I need more information."

"Well, get those wards set up, and I'll take care of trying to find the right people to help us from a non-magical point of view."

"I'm sure we could do all of this with magic.", she said just a bit defensively.

"I'm sure we can, Rowena. But we don't even know _what_ to do yet. That's where the non-magicals have us beat hands down. While we explored magic, they explored the world magic maintains. We never bothered. It'll take us years to figure out what an experienced engineer or physicist could just _tell_ us. You wouldn't have even known what to look for if not for their science books. Hell, we didn't even know to look for electromagnetic radiation until we looked at some non-magical science books."

"You're right, Harry," she said resignedly. "I can do almost anything through Hogwarts, but knowing what to do is the piece that I'm missing. Find the people we need, and I'll be sure to pick their brains as much as possible."

"Rowena, don't just pick their brains. Let them help. I know they won't know anything about magic, and the Heart of Hogwarts will probably make their brain explode, but if we want to have any hope of merging our worlds, we have to take their science seriously. In some ways magic is superior simply because it's more fundamental, but they know stuff we don't, and a lot of it, and their methods are _very_ effective, when they can manage to keep them free of political influence. Treat them as an equal, please."

Rowena looked as if she were about to protest, then deflated. "I can't argue that. I want to, every part of my being wants to, but I can't. I'll do as you suggest."

"I will bet you a bottle of firewhiskey - when I'm old enough to buy it - that once they realize that magic exists and have some idea of its nature, that they will take that and run with it, and within twenty years will have mathematical and experimental theories about what it is, how it does much of what it does, and where it fits within physics. Not everything, mind you, but I bet they'll have gotten pretty far. How about this: I'll bet you that within twenty years they understand why spells create light."

"You know what, Harry? Just for fun, I'll take that bet. But you might be right. They do seem remarkably driven to understand their world in ways that we never even conceived of. Who knows what this kind of collaboration might lead to."

Harry chuckled. "If you have to buy, I'll share."

Rowena smiled. "Deal." Then her smile faded. "But that's not the only reason I wanted to see you."

His eyebrows rose. "Oh?", he asked. "What's going on?"

"You told me to expect seven non-magicals. So far, about fifteen have shown up."

"Fifteen?", he said, not believing what he was hearing.

"Fifteen," she repeated. "It's not a big deal to host them, but you might want to convene a meeting of your 'order of Yeshua' and figure out what the hell's going on."

"Order of Yeshua," he said to himself. "Yes, that sounds about right." He chuckled. "May as well."

Rowena facepalmed. "Try to be sarcastic and see where it gets you."

He smiled. "Too right, my lady. I'll go get it sorted out. I'm sure they're here for a reason."

"Please," she said. "Some have met each other and the conspiracy theories are flying."

"How are their quarters laid out? Do they have a common room?"

"Yes," she said. "It seemed to make the most sense. I didn't want them to feel like they were in a prison."

He nodded. "That makes my job easier. Can Hogwarts please tell them to assemble in the common room in fifteen minutes? That should give me enough time to figure out how the hell I'm going to handle this."

She laughed. "Not all fun and games, is it, _champion_?", she said, just a little sarcastically but with a tease in her voice.

He shook his head. "Not really. But I hope the end is worth it."

**Non-Magical Common Room - Fifteen Minutes Later**

Harry entered the common room, which was very nicely appointed, to see fifteen curious, and in a couple of cases, mildly resentful, faces staring at him. There were people from all walks of life, about the only thing they had in common were that they were non-magical and wanted some answers.

"Umm… hi everyone," Harry said, a little weakly. "My name is Harry Potter. Some of you have met me. I assume everyone came here either because of a very strong urge, a result of prayer, or just being asked to?"

Everyone nodded their head.

"And I assume Lady Ravenclaw has given you all a quick tour and let you know where you are, who we are, and that answers will be forthcoming shortly?"

Again, everyone nodded, and a scruffy looking man in the back said, "Yeh, mate, this is a nice place and all, but it's getting kind of boring all cooped up in here. When are we going to find out what we're doing here?"

The rest of the room nodded in agreement. The crowd wasn't _hostile_, but they were stir crazy and obviously weren't going to take much more redirection.

Harry smiled. "Right now. Though you're not the only one who's going to find things out today. I only expected seven of you. So I have to figure out why the other eight of you are here."

"You don't know?" a woman said, sitting near the front row. She was stunningly attractive but there was a sadness in her eyes that Harry immediately picked up on.

"We all serve Jesus, or Yeshua - er… what is your name?"

"Camilla", she said.

"Camilla", he repeated. "Okay, here's the deal. My name is Harry Potter. I came to this school two months ago having been raised in the non-magical world. The night before I came to the school, my life changed irrevocably, and very soon after school started, my life changed even more. You see, Jesus has returned."

There was a lot of mumbling going on in the room at that. A little bit of fear, some jubilation, but mostly curiosity. "And what does that have to do with us?", another man spoke up.

Harry raised his hand. "I'll get to that, I promise. Let me speak, please, and then I'll answer any questions." That seemed to quiet them down a little. At least they were getting answers.

"It started two days after school started, when there was a dark lord and a couple of his followers in the school, and no one but Lady Ravenclaw knew. But she was powerless to stop them. At that moment, Yeshua appeared to both her and I, and someone else whom you will meet at some point. He appointed me to be his "Champion", which gave me absolute magical authority over Britain. Please don't ask me for a demonstration. I could give you one, but the last person I gave a demonstration to left shaking and needed a strong drink."

Another lady laughed. "That sounds like fun!", she said.

Harry smiled. "Well, then, find me soon, and I'll give you and anyone else who's interested that demonstration. But this isn't the time. I was also given the ability to invoke judgement on people. Not _pronounce_ judgement, just invoke. Yeshua is the only one allowed to actually pronounce judgement. This will become very important shortly.

"I took down Britain's magical prison shortly afterwards, which was guarded by around a hundred demons. I destroyed the demons with Yeshua's authority and razed it to the ground. Then I cursed the site so that it would never be rebuilt."

There was gasping at that revelation.

"As bad as you think it was, it was worse. After that, I investigated a department of the Ministry of Magic which turned out to be a globe-spanning conspiracy to keep magical knowledge hidden. That organization was disbanded, all of its members judged, and every office and facility sealed, and the hidden information was rediscovered. At that point, Yeshua raised at least one champion in every country, equal to my authority in their country in every way. I suppose I have a bit of seniority because I was the first, but mostly they're working on their own countries in the same way that I am. I have some, but limited, authority outside this country. It's too big a job for one… err… boy." He flushed a little.

"What's the goal?", an intelligent looking man spoke up.

"Oh, that's an easy question," Harry said. "Just the complete integration of magical and non-magical society and technology."

"Why now?", he said.

"Because if we don't, one of us is going to destroy the other, and Yeshua is trying to keep that from happening."

Many in the room seemed lost in thought.

"You all have the opportunity to be leaders in this particular effort. Hear me out until I tell you why you, specifically, are here, and then you can leave if you want. The only thing I'll require is an oath that you not speak of this until Yeshua has accomplished his goal."

Camilla spoke up. "I'm in. I don't care what it is. I've nothing to lose now.", she said, looking as if she were near tears. Most of the others agreed, and the rest just seemed pensive.

"Alright," he said. "I don't want to get too far into politics, because it's boring and politicians are not my favorite people in general, but the Wizard World's governing body is a body called the 'Wizengamot'. It is made up of mostly, but not entirely, inherited seats, though there is a seat for the current Minister and a few other dignitaries. Until very recently, this body had a very large contingent of people who wanted to take over the wizard world with the intent of subjugating those who were non-magical, like you, or born of non-magicals. They were called 'pureblood supremacists', and they were among the wealthiest and most influential people in our society."

"You said 'until recently'", the intelligent looking guy spoke. "What happened to them?"

"I destroyed their leader," Harry said matter-of-factly. "He had linked himself to them magically. When he went, they all went. It's a very different world than it was a few weeks ago."

"But you're just a boy," the man in the back said, looking confused.

"If you intend on living in the world of magic," Harry said quietly, "you will have to understand one very important thing. Things are not what they seem some of the time. Do not trust your senses. Most of the time they will not lead you wrong. Sometimes they will. I am eleven years old. Through a situation entirely out of my control, I am also thirty-eight years old."

"How-?"

He raised his hand in a placating gesture. "As I said. Just please take it at face value for right now. This is the _least_ of the surprises you will encounter here."

There were no further comments.

"So, as I was saying, the Wizengamot's responsibilities are two-fold. To make laws that govern the Wizard World, and to hold trials to determine whether the accused is guilty or innocent. Quite frankly, they have proven to be horrible at both of these tasks - though I expect with all of the dark lord's followers gone, they will become significantly better. Nonetheless, Yeshua has decided to take one of these responsibilities away from the Wizengamot, and instead, confer them on seven impartial judges who will have the responsibility to invoke judgement from Yeshua on those accused of a crime."

Camilla's mouth dropped open. Apparently she was the first to make the connection.

"You don't mean -?"

"Yes. Seven of you are to be those judges."

"So why are there fifteen of us?", one of them piped up.

"I actually don't know," he said. "So I'm going to focus on the judges right now and then we'll sort that out, particularly because I don't know who's going to do what. So the responsibility of the judges will be this: they will have the authority from Yeshua to invoke judgement, to temporarily remove the ability of the accused to use magic, and to summon anyone necessary to the courtroom for judgement. What you will _not_ be doing - and I say this as much to comfort as to warn - is using your own judgement to pronounce judgement, or deciding who gets judged and who doesn't (though there are some specific exceptions to that). You will simply act as the agents of judgement. When you invoke judgement, Yeshua will speak through you, and it will be understood that the judgements are not your own and you will not be held responsible for them, no matter what they are."

"So far that sounds very straightforward and a worthy cause," the intelligent looking man said. "What's the catch?"

Harry smiled. "Ahh, you caught me. Yes, there is a catch. Even though most of the pureblood supremacists are gone, many of those who are still in the Wizengamot hold various amounts of prejudice to those who are non-magical. Your presence and authority there will be a slap in the face to nearly every single person in the room, because it will be seen as evidence that the Wizard World has been deemed wholly incapable of governing itself. Which, by the way, it is," Harry said with a twinkle in his eye. "Your presence will not be taken kindly to and it is only the protection of Yeshua himself that will ensure your safety. Particularly because the judgements issued through you will have unpredictable outcomes."

Camilla thought. "Alright, so let me make sure I have this straight. Jesus is creating seven judges from the non-magical world to sit in judgement of the magical world, basically to slap them in the face."

"Well, his reasoning is more 'the weak humble the strong', but essentially correct.", he said.

She shook her head sadly. "Well, it'll still be a better life than I had," she said. Harry made a note to talk to her one on one. She seemed to be in a great deal of grief. Actually, he thought, that would be a good idea with all of them. He shook his head. He had probably handled this all wrong, he thought.

Yeshua chuckled in his head. "Yeah, you kinda did. But it'll all work out. Now I'm going to point out the judges to you. Then we'll talk about the rest of them."

Harry said "Yeshua is now going to select the judges, through me. When I call your name, can you please move to the right side of the room? We still have to figure out what the other folks are here for."

He called, one by one, seven people. They were the scruffiest and "least" of the group, which Harry thought made sense. He looked at all of them. "Are you willing to take this on?" he asked. They all nodded. He asked each one individually, and they all said something to the effect of "at least it sounds interesting and it's a better life than I had." Harry smiled. For some reason he thought Yeshua had chosen well.

But there were eight people left, including Camilla and the intelligent looking guy. He turned to them, and asked, "Just out of curiosity, how many of you are engineers, scientists, or mathematicians?"

All of them raised their hands.

Harry smiled. "I know why you're here now. Lady Ravenclaw and I desperately need your help on some things. We'll talk about that as a group in a little while.

"There are a couple more things. We are sorry for keeping you in this room for as long as we did, though we hope you found it comfortable, I understand that a gilded cage is still a cage. We kept you in here for your own safety - it turns out magic has some side effects we weren't aware of and we devised some countermeasures that should make your stay here far more pleasant. These will still be your quarters for the time being, but you are now free to roam about the castle and explore. Lady Ravenclaw will be aware if any of you get into a 'pickle', as they say, but as always, be careful. No magic can be performed in the halls, so you will be safe there, and you will be granted dining in the Great Hall if you choose with the students. Please keep your interactions with the students to a minimum, but feel free to answer any questions they have about the non-magical world, and I'm sure a few of the more inquisitive will have engineering questions that you're free to answer, and perhaps we'll have one or two of you teach a class on non-magical science if you would be so kind. Your room and board will be taken care of as part of your compensation, and we are working on getting electricity into these areas - something the engineers in this room I hope can help us with."

"You said something about compensation?"

"We're still working out the details on that, but you will be compensated for your time, and I think you'll find that many things that you would have paid for in the non-magical world will be part of the package deal, such as food, lodging, 'utilities', etc. But, given that, we'll make sure your compensation is competitive. Everyone okay with that?"

Everyone in the room nodded.

"Over the next few days, we'll get the logistical details straightened out. Please take your meals in your rooms tonight as you have been, while I make sure all of the details are worked out with the educational part of the school, but we'll put you all to work very shortly. Is there anything you need that you haven't been able to get so far?"

One of the judges spoke up. "The rest has been nice, but frankly it's a little boring. Is there anything that can be done about that?"

Harry thought. "I get it. I don't have an immediate answer. Just put up with it for just a little longer. Hopefully we can get electricity in here shortly, then the sky's the limit.", he said.

"It's not just electricity. The house elves haven't even been able to provide non-wizard novels. They don't make a whole lot of sense to us". The rest of the group nodded.

"Ahh, I see. I'll see what can be done about that. Any more questions?"

They shook their head. "Okay then. We'll talk soon. Judges, I'm not sure when the next meeting with the Wizengamot is, but that's when you'll be formally introduced. There will be fireworks, as you say, but it will all work out. We have a lot of preparation to do. Engineers, I'm sure Lady Ravenclaw will be putting you to work starting very soon - there are many things that we need to understand and I think you will find the whole thing enlightening as well. We eventually hope to have a whole scientific operation here, and you get to be on the ground floor. I need to take my leave now. Feel free to talk amongst yourselves, and I'll see about getting that reading material problem fixed straightaway. Hogwarts _does_ have a library and you're free to use it if you want, but just _stay out of the Restricted Section_. Some of those books are dangerous and I don't mean just the things in them. Alright then?"

They waved goodbye and started talking amongst themselves. Harry took that as his cue to leave. But not before asking Camilla to come with him. He knew she needed to get some immediate help.

As soon as they left the room, a familiar, dirty blonde haired girl walked towards them.

"Camilla", she said, matter of factly.

"Luna," she said, with a voice full of wonder.

"Do you know each other?", Harry asked.

Both of them said at once, "No."

"Then what-?"

"Yeshua told me to come here and meet Camilla."

"And this girl has been in my dreams for a month - ever since…" Her lips quivered.

Luna grabbed her hand. "Come with me," she said. And Camilla followed without a backward glance.

Harry thought in his head, "Yeshua, are you at it again?"

Yeshua just chuckled. "All things work together for good, for those who love God. Luna and Camilla need each other right now. This is one of Luna's gifts. Let her be Luna."

Harry sighed. "So much for minimal interaction with the students," he thought.

"That was your rule, not mine", Yeshua replied, just slightly reprovingly. "I get your train of thought on that, and you're not wrong, but I don't put people somewhere for no reason. Sometimes people need each other. Let them be."

"As you wish," Harry thought, just a bit sullenly.

"Now don't be that way," Yeshua responded. "Let me be me, alright? There are more surprises coming, and I don't tell you all of them either. You have a job to do, and it's one of the higher profile ones, true, but you are not my most important servant. Every servant of mine is equally important. One of the gifts Luna has that you haven't picked up on yet is that she is a natural at helping people heal their spirits, like she did with yours, and Camilla needs that more than anything right now. You were going to get her help, which I commend, but I had already arranged it. I keep telling you. Trust me."

Harry, suitably chastened, did not respond.

**Room of Requirement, Luna Configuration #1**

Luna opened the door, and dragged Camilla in with her. Camilla looked around with wonder. "What is this place?", she said.

Luna said, matter of factly, "It can be anything you want it to be. Harry's configuration was just a room with chairs in it. I like this a lot better. So do Harry and Yeshua."

"You know - ?"

Luna nodded. "He comes here sometimes. He likes to watch the fish."

Camilla's mouth was working back and forth, but no sound came out. Finally, she managed to get out, "this place is full of surprises."

Luna smiled. "It is. Magic is a wonderful thing. But there is no greater magic than people, don't you think?"

Camilla looked near tears. "Yes, but I've lost far too many recently," she said quietly. Luna sat down and patted the ground next to her, and Camilla sat down. Luna squirmed over and sat in her lap. "I like to cuddle. Do you like to cuddle?"

The dam broke. Camilla put her arms around Luna and cried for what seemed like a half an hour. For her part, Luna just let her. Finally Camilla started to calm down, and luna looked up at her. "What happened?"

"I lost my husband and daughter a month ago in an auto crash."

Luna frowned. "I lost my mummy a year ago."

Camilla looked down at Luna with understanding in her eyes. "Does it ever get better?"

"I don't know," Luna said. "I'm only ten. But I do know that it doesn't get better if you hold it in. That's why you need friends. Friends can cuddle you and let you cry and maybe the pain doesn't go away but it makes life bearable. I have a new sister who did that for me just a couple of weeks ago."

Camilla sighed. "You remind me of my daughter so much."

Luna smiled. "I don't think that's an accident. Yeshua doesn't do accidents. I don't know why Yeshua brought us together. I'm not your daughter, and you're not my mummy. I can never replace what you lost, and you can never replace what I lost. But we are all family in Yeshua."

Camilla hugged Luna, and Luna returned the hug. Camilla looked a little embarrassed. "Can I - May I… braid your hair sometimes?", she asked. "My daughter used to love it when I did that for her."

Luna smiled broadly. "Only if I can ask you woman questions and cuddle with you sometimes."

Camilla smiled just as broadly and squeezed Luna just a little tighter. "Deal."

Luna looked pensive. "I think we are good for each other, Camilla. But this school has a mind healer. I think you should ask Harry if you can make use of her. She's kind of like a non-magical psy.. Psyc…"

"Psychologist?"

"Yes, that. Maybe she can help you in ways I can't. I can only be a friend. I can't heal you.", Luna said sadly. "Though I wish I could."

Camilla smiled. "You've already done more than you know, Luna, just by being you. But I will take your suggestion. Luna?"

"Yes, Camilla?" she asked, still snuggled up against her. Camilla was rather well proportioned and made a very soft pillow.

"Who is Harry Potter, really?"

Luna paused for a second to think about the answer. "Harry Potter is a boy who has been through things that either of us cannot imagine. He can by sly and cunning one moment, and the next moment a rampaging dragon. He is young and old at the same time, hurting beyond even he knows and yet stronger than he knows as well. He is not our saviour, Camilla, but he is a tool of our saviour, and he takes his job extremely seriously, sometimes too much so. Loyalty and doing the right thing are very important to him. He's… something different, Camilla. Don't take him at face value. He is full of surprises."

Camilla nodded. "As I thought."

Luna smiled. "You'll get to know him better. Then you'll see what I mean."

Camilla smiled back. "I imagine I will. He seems a decent young bloke."

They both stood up, and holding hands, Luna walked Camilla back to her rooms. Well, Camilla walked. Luna skipped. But Camilla looked like her soul had been healed, just a little. She knew she hadn't been given her daughter back. She'd always be gone. But Luna filled that hole that her daughter left. Just a bit. And it was enough. And for her part, Luna was over the moon, so to speak. A sister and something even a little bit like a mummy! Yeshua was good to her.

**Room of Requirement, a few minutes later**

Harry walked into the Room of Requirement. He had simply asked the room for a Texas thunderstorm. He wanted to see how the room responded to that request. When he walked into the room, there was a small, ramshackle shack with a viewing porch, with a view over miles and miles of arid land. It was sunny and hot, but in the distance he could see a bit of darkness in the sky. He sat down in one of the rocking chairs on the shack and brooded. He'd messed everything up. He didn't really handle the non-magicals right, and then he overstepped his bounds when Luna had come to get Camille. Honestly, at that moment, he had no idea why Yeshua had chosen him as his 'champion', or even what that meant anymore.

He hadn't noticed that Yeshua had faded in next to him. He kept brooding, Finally he heard a throat clearing next to him. He looked to his left and had to squash a laugh. Yeshua was sitting there, in full cowboy attire, with a piece of straw between his teeth. He tipped his hat, and gave a crooked smile.

"Haven't seen ya round these parts before", Yeshua said, and now Harry couldn't squash his laugh.

"Yeshua, what are you doing?", Harry said.

"Well, you wanted a Texas thunderstorm, so I thought I'd play the part. Look," he said, and pointed at the sky. It was getting even darker in the distance, and there were some high clouds approaching above. "You know, once you figure out how this room works, you're going to be far more amazed by it than you think. Y'all take it for granted, but there's so much going on here and you don't even know."

Harry watched the clouds slowly approach. "That always seems to be the case," he said moodily.

Yeshua was quiet. They both watched the storm approach. A large, rolling cloud showed up in the distance, and was moving towards them. The distant sound of thunder could be heard.

"Why did you choose me?", Harry asked.

Yeshua played with his piece of straw in his teeth. He was really playing up the "Texas cowboy" image. "Harry, no one can stand the absolute truth," he said. "If I were to tell you everything about you, you would leave this room so wounded that I'm not sure we could continue. That's just the nature of things. But that's every human, not just you. On your own, you're a mess."

"Then what can you tell me?," Harry asked, forlornly. "I messed everything up today. Why did you choose me?"

The rolling cloud continued approaching, and a green, indistinct mass was behind it. Gusts of cool, moist air started pushing into the viewing stand, which were very welcome. It had been very hot. The thunder was getting a little louder now. The air smelled of petrichor.

Yeshua looked out at the storm. He seemed to take in everything that was happening. "I chose you because you are weak, Harry."

"Huh?", Harry said, gobsmacked. That was the last answer he expected.

Yeshua sighed. "It's always a blow to the ego when the truth is revealed. Always. People assume that I choose them because I need something from them. In some way it's true, I do need something accomplished, and I choose them to do it. But the brutally honest truth is that I could choose anyone to do any job. Some might be innately better at some jobs than others, but I don't 'need' anyone. I didn't need you, Harry, to do this."

The thunder was growing even louder now, and the first spatters of rain were starting to hit the ground as the rolling cloud passed over them. Lightning hit a couple of miles away, a bright, crooked bolt jabbing into the ground like a sword, with the thunder coming a few seconds later.

"You are a survivor, Harry. You are wounded. You do not trust authority figures. You learned a very long time ago that the only person in the world that you can trust is yourself, and you even second-guess that half the time. You are weak, Harry. There are many adults that I could have chosen who would have handled things with much more subtlety and finesse. You take the job I gave you seriously, so seriously that half the time you don't even think to consult with me. I gave you a job to do, and you're going to do it to the best of your ability. That is loyalty and responsibility, and I don't fault you for that. But I didn't choose you for you to do the job to the best of your ability, Harry. I chose you to do it to the best of _my_ ability."

They watched as the lightning hit closer and closer, and the rain started to beat down on the ground, mixed with a bit of small hail. The wind blew some rain on them, but neither of them moved. The cool air from the rain really felt kind of good.

"Why do you mask yourself when you play your "champion" role, Harry? Why do you hide your appearance?. Are you ashamed of me?

"No!", Harry said. "It's because no one will take an eleven year old seriously."

"But you're not speaking as an eleven year old. You're speaking as my champion. Your authority speaks for itself. Why do you hide your face?"

Harry thought. His previous answer was true, but not completely honest.

He lowered his head, as lightning struck about a thousand feet away and the thunder cracked within a second. "It's because I don't want people to know that _I_ am the champion of Yeshua."

"You are ashamed."

"No. I just… I just want to separate eleven year old Harry from the Champion."

"Why?"

"Because if I not seen as the Champion, I'll be left alone."

"Ah, there we go. You don't want people to know you're actually weak. You want to be able to walk away from your responsibilities when you don't need to use them. You're not fully committed. You don't fully trust me."

It was now pouring. The lightning was just indistinct flashes in the torrent of rain coming down and washing through the channels carved in the dirt by previous rain.

Harry sighed. "I don't."

Yeshua pressed. "And you don't want to show your weakness because you don't want your weakness to shine through my authority."

Harry nodded wordlessly as the rain pounded relentlessly on the roof of the little shack, running off in streams of water that hit the ground with a large din.

"You don't understand, Harry. My power is made perfect in weakness."

"What do you mean?"

"As a general rule, Harry, I don't call strong people. They have everything they need in this world, what do they need from me? They don't realize until it's too late that they had nothing. But those who have nothing know that they need me. They often don't know that it's specifically me that they need, but they know they need something. And they call on me, and I answer. I call the weak to shame the strong, Harry. But you try to appear strong. How can I shame the strong with the weak if you refuse to show your weakness?"

Harry looked out at the storm, which appeared to be slowly letting off. There was still lightning, but the rain was now like a normal Britain rainstorm rather than the floods of Noah.

"What was the thing that was most in common with the fifteen non-magicals that you met today?", Yeshua asked.

Harry answered without hesitation. "They all seemed to have nothing else to live for."

"That's right," Yeshua said, nodding his head. "Some had skills that we needed, but they were the weakest of the weak. They called on me repeatedly for help. They knew they needed my help. They didn't know how I was going to provide it, but they trusted me. They trusted me enough to walk through anti-non-magical wards towards what they saw as the ruins of a castle simply because I asked them to. They trusted me because they had nothing else. But you, Harry... You think you have something else. I gave you authority and to you, it makes you strong. But it's not your authority, Harry. You have nothing. When you got on the train, you had the clothes on your back and the things that Hagrid took you shopping for, and that was it. Then your world changed. But you still have nothing that I haven't given you, Harry."

Harry's lips quivered.

"You are weak, Harry, but I make you strong. Never forget the source of your strength. It's me, not you. And at the Wizengamot, like I told you, I called the weak to shame the strong. Whatever gave you the idea that you weren't part of the weak?"

"Because they were non-..." He didn't finish his sentence and lowered his eyes.

"See, Harry?", Yeshua said quietly. "You can't bear even the little bit of truth I just gave you. I just destroyed your ego and told you that you are nothing without me. But that's also why you can trust me. Because you have life, and because I called you, and because I have kept every promise I have made to you and to mankind, even if they, or you, can't or won't see it. This is the price of being my follower, Harry. This is the sacrifice you have to make, willingly. This is taking up your cross and following me. You must let go of your ego and _trust me_. Otherwise, this kind of thing will keep happening. I told you when we first started that you will make mistakes, and that we will talk about them. It doesn't make you any less fit to be my champion. It just makes you human, Harry."

The storm had let off, and only distant rumbles of thunder were heard. The sky had some weird kinds of wavy clouds, and higher up were some bumpy clouds that also looked interesting. The air was fresh and the birds were starting to come out and pluck worms up that had been flushed out by the rain.

"Why did you mess up today, Harry?"

"Because I took my job too seriously and didn't ask you what to do, and didn't trust you and got upset when you did something different than I was planning."

Yeshua nodded. "Too right. And you'll do it again, and again, and again. You know, I had a follower just before I died. His name was Peter. I told him that he would deny me three times before the rooster crowed. He denied it up and down. And the third time he denied me, the rooster crowed, and he wept. I still made him the founder of my _ekklesia_, my body on earth. I forgive you, Harry."

Harry ran over and hugged Yeshua. Yeshua patted his head. "It's okay to be weak, Harry. It's why I called you. Embrace your weakness, and in your weakness, you will find strength. My strength. That I promise you."

Harry let go, and Yeshua smiled. "Think about what I said, Harry. Don't be ashamed of your weakness." And he faded out.

Harry sat on the porch of the dilapidated shack for a half hour, as the hot weather started to seep back in, just thinking. Then, finally, he stood up and left the room. It had been a long day and he had even more to think about.

A/N: I think I'll leave it here. Harry did mess up, and he needed to be taken down a peg or two. For that reason, this was an extremely hard chapter for me to write, I didn't escape it unscathed either. I hope you enjoyed it. And I also hope you enjoyed the little homage to "The Shack".


	9. Divestment and Investment

A/N: That last chapter was a hard one to write. As I've mentioned, wriiting Yeshua is hard, and getting that last part even close to right was almost impossible. I think I threaded the needle though.

I want to say one quick thing: Sometimes an unimportant plot point will come up, and then never appear again. Like, for example, Hedwig being mad at Harry for not paying attention to her. One can assume that he now pays more attention to her or has to sacrifice more bacon. Maybe she's a dark bird, or maybe just a really intelligent animal. Unless I choose to explore why she's such an abnormally intelligent bird, which I might, that's an unimportant plot point. I just did that for fun. Similarly, when the fifteen non-magicals complained about not having decent stuff to read, you can assume he deals with that problem off-camera. It's not important to explore, it's just a device to show their general discomfort with the situation. Generally, if Harry promises something unimportant to the plot and I don't mention it again, it's because he can be assumed to have kept his promises. Again similarly, if a character isn't mentioned for a while, you can assume they're just living their life like they always do, and sometimes even interacting in ways that affect their character off-screen. If I wrote every single interaction this book would be more interminable than it already is. I'm telling an incredibly broad story and I don't want to go too far into unproductive weeds. Or at least more than I already have.

Or, it could be a Chekhov's gun. You'll never know until you know.

**Room of Requirement, after dinner, No particular configuration.**

Harry was sitting in the Room, brooding. He didn't actually set it to anything, it was just a room with one chair, and a window, looking out onto something he wasn't actually paying much attention to. He was really in a funk.

Even after his conversation with Yeshua earlier in the day, which simultaneously left him feeling better and worse, he was fighting pretty strong depression. He wasn't exactly sure why, but it felt like nothing he was doing was good enough, that he was going to fail, and there was nothing to be done about it. Even though his rational mind was frantically trying to give him reasons to feel otherwise, his mood seemed to have a mind of its own.

He heard a knock on the door. He walked over and opened it, then sat back down in his chair, Luna following him. She carefully closed the door and walked over to him, stopping just in front of him. She cocked her head in that curious way she did when she was trying to process something she didn't quite understand.

"Why are you depressed, Harry?", she asked.

"I'm not," he said feebly.

"Don't lie to me!", she said vehemently. "I can see the darkness. Usually you shine so bright I can't look at you easily, but you're much dimmer right now. You're still just as bright, but something's hiding it."

He sighed. "Alright, I guess I am depressed."

She concentrated a bit, and the room turned into a prairie full of many different colored flowers, heading towards a still lake. In the distance were rocky, snow-capped mountains. A bite of fall was in the air, and there was a small, round clearing right where they were standing, or sitting. Harry had to admit it was very beautiful. She grabbed him by the hand and pulled him off his chair, and pointed at the ground.

"Sit", she said, like she would to a dog.

He sat.

Luna crawled up on him and sighed contentedly. "It looks like you need more cuddles."

This time he didn't resist quite so much.

"Why are you so dim?", she asked.

Harry sighed. "It's all too much," he said. "I've got too many responsibilities and I can't handle them all. Things are already slipping. I haven't even had a chance to go over my Gringotts' accounts because I've been too busy doing other things that I can't skive off."

Luna sighed and snuggled deeper. There was a nip in the air, and Harry was warm. Harry felt somewhat the same way, Luna was very warm against the chill in the air, even though the mountains were very beautiful.

"I don't know how to fix your problem," Luna said, sadly. "I'm only ten. But you're only eleven. You don't know how to fix your problem either. You feel like the world is putting pressure on you to save it, but you already have when you destroyed Voldemort. You have friends, Harry and you're making more. And you know at least two extremely magically powerful adults who can do far more than you think they can, and you're treating them like employees. Stop trying to save the world."

"But it's my -"

"It's not your job to save the world, Harry. It's Yeshua's. Your job is to do as he asks of you and let him do the rest."

Harry sighed. Maybe she was right. What had Yeshua asked of him? Yeshua asked him to be his champion, establish judges in the Wizengamot, and start an effort to make the missing knowledge known to the world. Everything else Yeshua had asked of him, he'd already done. Perhaps it was time to talk to Rowena and Nicolas.

"You're right, Luna", he said, and all she did was snuggle closer and say "warm." Then she started dozing. She had a cute snore.

He just held her and looked at the mountains in the distance. Luna was absolutely right. Harry had his direction, now it was time to let the adults do their thing.

Harry looked down at the girl who was pressed up against him, and kissed her forehead. He didn't know what she was to him at the moment - Yeshua hinted that she would be more than a sister, but he wasn't sure who he would end up with. But he always felt better when she came over and cuddled with him. Luna was a girl who was very free with her heart, and Harry was learning to value that. Daphne was somewhat free with her heart _with him_, but she was in other ways very reserved and obviously raised as a proper young lady. They were as different as different could be, but Harry realized at that moment that he loved both of them. Not as a girlfriend - he was too young for that and knew it - but he loved both of them all the same.

He squeezed her a little tighter, and she lightly shifted and moaned in her sleep, then stilled and started snoring again. He smiled and watched the mountains in the distance. He thought Yeshua would like this configuration too.

He heard Yeshua chuckle in his head. "She outdid herself again. And she's right, too. Stop trying to save the world."

Harry gently stood up as best he could while cradling a sleeping Luna next to him, and with just a little effort, took her back to her quarters. He put her in her bed and pulled the covers over her. He kissed her forehead again and said "Goodnight, Luna."

She smiled and murmured something unintelligible, and started snoring again. He left her room with the smell of Luna again in his nose.

Sighing, he went back in time a couple of hours and walked over to Rowena's office. Best to get this load off.

"Enter", she said, and he walked in. She appeared to be drinking a mug of a hot liquid whose smell he couldn't identify, and he plopped down in a chair across from her.

She frowned. "To what do I owe the honor?", she said.

"Rowena, I have been trying to take far too much on, and not only is it not healthy for me, it's things I'm not really supposed to take on in the first place. I need help."

She put her mug down. "What do you need help with?", she asked.

"Alright," he said, "I'll not mince words. You were there at the same time I was, when Yeshua said what he wanted to do, and you were shown the huge amounts of knowledge that were made available from before they were hidden. As you know, we need to set up a research department, preferably here, where magical and non-magical scientists can work together and learn more about magic and science. I've been misguidedly trying to 'manage' that effort, but I can't. I'm too busy just keeping up with my responsibilities politically and financially, as well as being Yeshua's champion. I've been trying to bite that off, but I can't. It's just too much. But it needs to be done."

Rowena frowned. "I can see that. You're just eleven, and even with just your responsibilities to wizard society, that would already be a lot. But you do have a pretty strong vision of what needs to be done, as you proved earlier today. You were right about how we need to approach the non-magical science and made clear to me that there were things that we have no idea of. So what do you need me for?"

"That's the thing, Rowena. I really don't think it was supposed to be my responsibility in the first place, other than setting things into motion so that they could happen. The _vision_ that we talked about earlier is Yeshua's, but I don't think I'm the right one to execute it. But I do have an idea. I want to run it by you."

Rowena smiled. Now she was starting to see some growth in Harry, and she was pleased. "Well, then, by all means. What's your idea?"

"Here's my idea. I suggest that you and Nicolas get together and set up a research foundation. I know Nick is familiar with non-magical science, and between him and you, I'm sure you can figure out where to start on the research. You already have eight engineers provided by Yeshua, and Madame Bones is recruiting more on the magical side, and the Ministry will probably pay the salaries of those researchers. In fact, I expect there will be people coming from all over the world to study the material that we recovered. Create a research wing, start learning and re-learning things, and start turning this castle back into the place of learning and research it was always intended to be."

Rowena nodded. "I find myself with a lot of time on my hands lately, so I wouldn't mind taking that on. But how would we fund it?"

"Rowena, I am so far Gringotts wealthiest customer, and don't you dare tell me you didn't squirrell something away a thousand years ago."

She laughed. "I can't get anything past you, can I?"

"I'm suggesting that you and I and maybe Nick fund it to start, and it would be the responsibility of you and Nick and whomever else is involved to figure out how to make it self-sufficient and maybe even return our investments someday. I'm sure there are many discoveries to make that could be patented in the non-magical world, it could be very lucrative. I'm not in it to make money, I just don't want my funds to dwindle to nothing with nothing to show for it. In fact," he said, scratching his chin, "I bet we could get the Goblins in on this too."

"What? The Goblins?", Rowena said, with a frank look of astonishment on her face.

He rubbed the back of his head. "Yeah, they seem to think I can destroy them with a word for some reason." He chuckled darkly. "I can, but I'm not allowed, but don't tell _them_ that. Anyway, I spoke to their king -"

"You WHAT?", she said, her mouth having dropped open.

"Spoke with their king," he said nonchalantly, as she flopped back against her seat. "Apparently he thought he was being granted an audience with _me_. Anyway," he tried to keep a straight face as the thousand year old woman in front of him looked as if she were going to burst, and only mostly succeeded, "If Yeshua can do what he's promising - which, of course, he can, they are willing to pursue peace with the Wizard world. I'd say including them in this venture would be a good start."

She took a good minute to compose herself. "You - Goblins - king -" and put her head on the table. When she lifted her head she was laughing. "You're just full of surprises, aren't you?"

He nodded. "Probably more than even I know."

"Well," she said after she recovered her wits. "If you can pull that off, they're welcome to partner with us, as far as I'm concerned. But if they're just in it for the money, I'd rather not. Perhaps that's something you can iron out with them."

He nodded. "And that's something probably _only_ I can do at the moment."

She shook her head. "Eleven years old. Do you know how long it's been since I've been truly astonished? Even some of the things the seventh years got up to in the broom closets never fazed me, and some of them were _quite_ inventive. But you just blew my mind." She laughed. "I guess it keeps life interesting.

"Anyway, Goblins aside, your contributions are very generous, and your concerns are understandable. It's very mature to want to see a return on your investment of some type. I tell you what. Let me talk to Nick tomorrow, and we'll figure something out. We'll put together a plan and tell you how much money we need to start, and you're right, I'm sure between the two of us we can put in a sizable amount as well. Space isn't an issue, as I can make the inside of this castle as big as it needs to be. I'll have an answer for you by tomorrow."

Harry sighed with relief. "Thank you. I couldn't keep going like this."

Rowena nodded. "Honestly, you shouldn't have tried. You have enough responsibility."

Harry lowered his head, she was right. "There is one last request I have."

Rowena sighed. "Harry -"

He raised his hand in a "stop" gesture. "No, this one's rather important. Can you get the kit out of the 'shibboleth room' in the Room of Requirement and put it somewhere else in the castle where authorized people can get to it? I don't want the Room to become a point of contention. You know its true nature, after all, and the most important thing it hides. We can't have just anyone going in there at any time."

Rowena thought. "Alright. You're right. I'll get some house elves together and we'll have the room cleared out as soon as we can. It's very large so it will not be instant."

"Thanks, Rowena. Just let me know what you need. Now this gives me some time to actually get to Gringotts and figure out just what I have to work with. Last time I went, their charm broke, so I suspect it's quite a bit. I'll also chat with them about what we're trying to do and see if they want in."

Rowena laughed. "Their charm broke. I guess that means we don't have to worry about funding for a while."

Harry nodded. "I'll use every knut if we can turn this into something sustainable where none of us lose everything in a doomed endeavour."

"I understand your concern. Thank you for coming to me. It shows maturity to be able to let go. We will be in touch shortly. I will treat you as an investor, to whom I have a responsibility to, and in turn, you will treat me as an executive, to whom you have entrusted your money and vision. Now let go and let me do what you've asked. Maybe you can actually rest some."

Harry nodded. "Rest does sound good. And I have plenty to be going on with anyway. We will talk later this week. You have a plan, and I will know what I have to work with."

She nodded. He stood up, said his goodbyes, walking out of the room feeling much lighter than when he went in. If he couldn't trust them with this, there was no one he could trust.

That night, before he went to bed, he asked Yeshua, "Did I do the right thing?"

Yeshua responded, "For the most part, yes. Rowena and Nick are as trustworthy as they come, and their combined 1,600 years of experience should have them making short work of getting the project off the ground. We spoke much today, and you seem to have grasped the essence of what I was trying to tell you, and it was wise to ensure that what needs to happen does, while taking yourself out of the day to day implementation. Please know, Harry, that I did not tell you what I did today because I want to second-guess every single decision you make. I did give you authority, and when I give someone authority and responsibility, I expect them to use it, and there are times where I do not have a preference as to how a mission is accomplished, only that it is."

"I don't understand. Sometimes you say I should have asked first. But you just said that sometimes you expect me to do what I think is right, if I heard you correctly. How can I tell the difference?"

Yeshua chuckled. "If you know someone well, I mean very, very, well, can you sometimes predict what they will like and dislike, and do things that you know they will like?"

He thought of Luna and Daphne. "I think so."

"It is the same with me, Harry. The more you know me, the more you will do things on your own that you know I will approve of. That is the essence of my authority. It takes time."

Harry sighed. "I guess that makes sense. One more thing, Yeshua. The other champions and the other countries. Could we get them to contribute some to what we're trying to do here? I don't think it's fair that magical Britain and I mostly subsidize what the whole world benefits from. And I'm not even sure we have the combined resources to make this work by ourselves."

There was a pause. "I agree. You do have significant financial resources, but you should not be expected to bear the costs disproportionately, especially given that I have already put enough responsibility onto you, which you now recognize to your credit. Contribute what you feel appropriate. I expect you to contribute _some_, but do not feel responsible for sustaining this effort on your own. I would recommend not more than one tenth of your wealth, but I will leave the exact amount up to you. You may speak to the Goblins, but otherwise, I will make the appropriate arrangements. We will talk later, now go to sleep.", he said, not unkindly.

And he did.

**Great Hall, The Next Morning.**

The "Golden Five" were sitting at the Ravenclaw table this time, and breakfast was delicious as usual. Not all of the teachers were at the front table, but that was typical for breakfast - they'd come in and out and eat like the students did. The five friends, though, typically made it a point to have breakfast together. Daphne sat next to Harry, and Hermione sat across the table with Kamiko and John. She had kind of taken them under her wing while Harry was off trying to figure out what his role was, and really didn't mind. Kamiko turned out to be very intelligent, much like her, and John was just a bit reckless but with a strong moral fiber, kind of like Harry. They were very appreciative of Hermione's help, and Hermione was glad to have friends who accepted her for who she was, even if they were from completely different parts of the world. Kamiko did seem to have a little bit of a difficult time adjusting to non-Japanese culture, but she was doing alright, and John was having a bit of a difficult time toning down his West Texas "just let things slide" tendencies. But they both found Hermione to be a good friend, and Hermione felt the same about them. They didn't know Harry quite as much because he had been very busy lately, but today he seemed a lot lighter than usual.

Daphne asked Harry, "Why do you seem a little different today?"

He sighed. "I can't go into all the details in such a public place, but I was reminded that certain things were not my job and that I was trying to bite off too much. So I handed off some of the things I was trying to manage to people I can trust. Which reminds me, Hermione - we need to talk after breakfast."

"What about?"

"Not here," he said. "I've just got a possible opportunity for you I think you would be _extremely_ interested in."

She perked up. "Any hints?"

"Sorry, no. Not with so many ears around." He looked at all of the other students, who were having their own conversations or eating quietly.

Daphne just smiled and ate her breakfast. It seemed that Harry was starting to grow up a little. Maybe someday he would be marriage material after all. She just reached over and squeezed his hand a little bit, then went back to eating. To his credit, he didn't blush, just smiled at her and ate, himself. Hermione smiled. It seemed her friends were pairing off, even if they didn't realize it yet. And probably wouldn't for a long time. Of course, many things could happen between now and then, but she was Hermione. She didn't miss much. Except, of course, for the whole marriage contract thing. She completely and totally missed that.

After breakfast, Harry took Hermione aside. "I bet you're a bit bored, aren't you?"

She nodded. "Was it that obvious?"

"Not really, I just know you. Both you and I already know all of the current ministry curriculum. I haven't decided what I want to do about that for myself, but might I suggest you have a conversation with Lady Ravenclaw. The research institution is starting to spin up, and I can't imagine that you wouldn't want a piece of that."

Her eyes lit up. "Heavens yes!", she exclaimed, and bounced on her toes, with her hands clasped at her chest. She looked like she was about to jump up and down and was barely restraining herself.

"I'm not responsible for that aspect anymore," he said, "So you'll have to convince her. But she was there when our companions were separated from us, so she knows what you know and are capable of. Talk to her. Maybe you can help."

She impulsively hugged Harry. "Thankyouthankyouthankyou", she said, running her words together and unable to contain her happiness as it bubbled out of her. Then she bolted out, nearly running towards Rowena's office. Harry chuckled to himself. It was always good when things worked out. He was sure that Rowena would come up with a suitable solution.

For his part, Harry had some things to take care of at Gringotts. He would come back in time in a couple of hours and take his classes. He also needed to check on the judges. He had a feeling there wasn't long to wait. Also, tonight was the night that the judges and engineers would be introduced to the students, and he had to make sure everyone was ready for that.

He walked over to the Judges' quarters, the engineers having been moved to a different place. They were helping consult with Lady Ravenclaw as to how to design a decent research facility. Hopefully they weren't bored, but they were her problem now, and she was fully capable of handling it.

As luck would have it, they were all there and finishing breakfast. He knocked on the doors of each one and asked how things were going. Most of them were a little happier with at least some non-magical reading material, and they appreciated being able to explore the castle and the grounds, but they were getting a little stir-crazy. He reassured them that they would have more to do than they knew in a few days, but asked what would make things more comfortable for them.

A couple of them said they had family that they would like to visit once in a while, while others said some non-magical board games or yard games they could play outside might be fun. A couple suggested a swimming pool, and one or two said they kind of missed being around "their own kind" sometimes, so to speak. Harry didn't make any promises this time, but he knew he needed to talk to Rowena. If they were going to host non-magicals long-term, the castle needed to make some concessions and figure out how to solve those problems. He did promise them that he took their concerns seriously and would work with Rowena to try to make things more comfortable. She was probably hearing similar things from her engineers as well.

He then went to Gringotts (after summoning his lost key, he couldn't remember why he hadn't before) and got an actual accounting of his assets He found out there were a few marriage contracts not signed by his parents, including one with the Weasleys signed by Dumbledore, and he used his authority to invalidate them. He left the one with Daphne intact for now. He found out he was almost obscenely wealthy because of all of the wealthy families whose lines had ended and were given to him by conquest, and also that he owned an interest in most of the well-known wizard businesses. Most of this was by conquest - the Potters had left him quite a bit of money, but what he had to work with impressed even the Goblins. He could _easily_ spare a tenth of his wealth for the research department, and after getting that figure and an inventory of his belongings that was as thick as his hands, he went back to the castle, and went to classes as planned.

A/N: This is a short chapter, even by my standards, but to be quite frank, I think I've developed Harry's character as much as I need to, and I've dragged the story out enough. It's time I start the real conflict.

These last two chapters were necessary, though. I needed to develop Harry's character a little. It's not so much that he let it go to his head, as much as he took his job too seriously and started to think Yeshua worked for him instead of the other way around. His heart was in the right place, but he didn't have much humility. Given his background, I think it's understandable that he latches onto any power that's given to him, but he kind of had to be put in his place. He's got enough to be going on with, anyway. He's learning to rely on his friends and associates, and that's a hard lesson to learn sometimes.

I think next chapter (and I'm not sure yet) will be another DADA lesson, and then the judges finally get loosed on the world. There's no point in spelling out the preparation of that any further, I think.

Thanks for reading, if any of you still are.


	10. Do Not Ever Cross Daphne

**Slytherin Common Room (yes, he still goes there sometimes)**

Harry was nervous. The time for the judgement of the wizengamot was nigh, and his talking with Yeshua a few days earlier had convinced him that he needed to show up as himself - _without_ the disguise. This meant that he was going to have no choice but to tell Daphne one of his biggest secrets, lest she find out for herself. He thought her finding out for herself would be a _really_ bad idea.

He may only be eleven, but he was right. Plus a quick letter to Cyrus had pounded that thought into him. If you have something to tell a woman you think she's not going to like, and she's going to find out anyway, it's better if it's you that tells her. Then she can get it out of her system while you're still there. So he was looking for her in the common room, and finally found her. She was doing some homework, and he just watched her for a moment. She tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear, and went back to writing. Some deep part of Harry found that particularly endearing, and then the eleven year old part of him told it to shut up. It went and sulked in a corner of his mind.

"Daphne?", he said hesitantly, and she jumped a little, having been concentrating on her homework.

"Yes, Harry?", she said, seeming slightly irritated at the interruption.

"May I speak to you for a moment?", he asked. She turned and looked at him, and saw an expression on his face she hadn't seen in a while. Hesitancy. Whatever it was, it was troubling him.

"Alright," she said.

"Not here," he said quietly, and understanding, she started packing up her things. Once she was sorted, he took her to the Room of Requirement, and selected Luna configuration #2.

She walked in in wonder. "Have I seen this room before?", she asked.

"I don't think so," he said. "If you did, it looked very different. Luna just came up with this configuration.

Her piercing blue eyes examined all of the sights around her, and she sighed. "It is truly beautiful", she said.

"Luna comes up with the best configurations."

"Wait," Daphne said. "Who is Luna?"

Harry mentally smacked himself in the head. He'd never introduced her. "Luna is a ten year old girl who is housed in the castle for her own protection, for reasons that I would not say. They are her secrets to tell. But she is a very special person, and it seems every time she comes into this room, she turns it into something spectacular."

She nodded. She understood secrets. "This room… can be whatever you want?"

Harry nodded. "I haven't found limits yet. Hermione made it look like we were on the moon. We're still not sure we weren't actually there. There were even the footprints from the men who landed on the moon in 1969."

"Men landed on the moon?", she asked, incredulous.

"Several times," he said.

She shook her head. "So much we don't know…"

Harry frowned. "If you only knew the half of it."

She let that slide. "This is a beautiful configuration," she said, "but it's a little nippy, and unless you want me cuddling with you for warmth…"

He smiled and opened his arm, and she took the invitation and snuggled into his side. She put her arm around his back, and leaned her head on his shoulder. He wrapped his arm around her, but he was obviously nervous about something.

"Daphne, do you remember when you said I would eventually tell you my secrets?"

"Hmm…", she said, half listening. She was rather enjoying being close to Harry for some reason.

"I need to tell you my most shocking one," he said.

She lifted her head. "The one you said was more shocking than the other one you told us about?"

"Yes. I was hoping that I could wait until we were both a little older to tell you, but my hand is forced. If I don't tell you now, you'll find out in a few days anyway."

"Why did you want to keep it from me?", she asked, frowning.

"I think… I hope you'll understand once I tell you. I think it is important that I tell you that your father knows this secret and it was on his advice that I wanted to wait." He rubbed the back of his head nervously. "But in a few days it's going to come out whether or not I want it to, and your father and I agreed that it's best I tell you now."

She sighed. He felt her chest rise and fall against him. "Then you might as well tell me.", she said with a bit of dread in her voice.

"It's a long story," he said, with nervousness in his voice. "I don't know how. So I'm just going to tell you the pertinent facts, and then let you ask any question you want. I promise I'll answer to the best of my ability as long as I'm not revealing anyone else's secrets. I'll tell you as much as I can."

She thought for a bit, then nodded. "I guess that's the best way. Well, out with it, then," she said.

"Okay," he said. "Here are the three biggest parts of the secret, and then we can go into the details. The first part of the secret is this: I _am_ eleven, but due to circumstances entirely beyond my control, I have the knowledge and magical skill of a thirty-eight year old man."

"You… what?", she said, pulling away from him unconsciously. "You're thirty-eight?"

"No.", he said. "I'm not. I have the emotional and physical maturity of an eleven year old. I'm as old as you are in every pertinent way. I have no memories of the other twenty-seven years. I can't tell you where those are without violating the secrets of others. I just have the skills and knowledge. I think that's why I speak so differently," he said thoughtfully.

"Okay", she said. "That's not so bad. You're a lot better at magic than the rest of us, but it's not like you're a man amongst children. I think I understand that. You'll have to tell me how that happened sometime." She snuggled back into him.

He sighed. "Honestly, I wish it didn't, but I was not given the choice. But that is not the shocking part."

She pulled away again and looked at him. "That wasn't the secret? That was pretty shocking in its own right. I thought you were -", and she didn't finish the sentence, lowering her eyes. He didn't blame her in the least.

He sighed. "It's one of three secrets, all of which are somewhat related to each other. Suffice it to say for now that if it weren't for that secret, I wouldn't know one, and I wouldn't have the other. The second secret is that I am an heir of Hogwarts. Gryffindor by blood, and Slytherin by conquest. This means that along with Rowe- I mean Lady Ravenclaw", he took a breath, "We both completely control the castle and its wards. Because she _was_ the castle for a thousand years, she has a kind of seniority, but we work pretty closely together. This is the reason for many of the changes that have occurred in the castle starting a few weeks ago.

"I would not have known that I were an heir of Hogwarts if it weren't for my first secret. Unfortunately, as I said, there are people who also have secrets related to this that I won't betray, so I can't tell you much more about that."

She nodded. "That's… interesting, but not really shocking," she said. "I don't know much about how Hogwarts works, but I imagine there hasn't been an actual heir in a while?"

He nodded. "At least someone who _knew_ they were a heir. That seems kind of important for some reason. Honestly, a lot of this stuff confuses me."

She patted his arm. "Well, I must say that the school does seem quite a bit safer since you took control. So that's not so bad, you seem to be handling it alright."

"Lady Ravenclaw is around to pound some sense into me if she needs to."

She giggled. "Yes, I can imagine her doing just that."

"But we get along just fine, even though sometimes we have a difference of opinion." He chuckled to himself. "A thousand year old woman who was a part of the castle, and me, an eleven year old, working together. But that, Daphne, pales in comparison to the last secret."

She seemed to steel herself, he could feel her muscles tightening.

"I am the Champion of Yeshua," he said, quietly.

"Where have I heard that before? I can't - oh.", she said, quietly. "You brought down Azkaban."

He nodded. "And more."

"John was telling about Yeshua in that book - the Bible, he said. Is that the same person?"

He nodded again.

"Is he… God?"

"Yes, and no. Simultaneously. At least I think so," he said thoughtfully.

"And you are his champion."

"One of them. There are a couple of hundred more around the world."

"Who else knows?"

He thought for a moment. "Excluding Yeshua and the other champions, ten people, I think. I'm not sure the exact number."

"And all of our friends?"

He lowered his head and nodded.

She sighed, and many emotions seemed to be warring on her face, all at the same time. She looked like she wanted to cling to him, smack him, and run, simultaneously. He didn't blame her at all.

Finally she disengaged from him and stood up. "Harry, you've just told me three different secrets of yours, any _one_ of which would have been enough to send anyone running. I can handle the first two, not easily, but I can. I don't know about the third. I don't know what to think. You were going to keep all of this a secret from me when everyone else knew. The fact that my father suggested it… I'll have words with him." Her lip was quivering, but her eyes were full of rage. "How can I trust you now, Harry? Do you have any other secrets you're keeping from me? I'm sure you can top that last one somehow. I have to go now. I'll find you when I'm ready to talk about it."

She curtsied prettily but exaggeratedly. "My Lord," she said, with just the right tone of sarcasm to _cut_. Then she turned around, calmly walked out the door, and as it closed behind her, he heard running footsteps and a muffled sob.

Harry put his head in his hands. "Yeshua," he thought, "What do I do?"

He heard a chuckle in his head. "You're on your own for this one, Harry. You said it yourself - you have the emotional maturity of an eleven year old. If I walk you through everything, you won't grow. I will say this though: _everything_ you just experienced was a result of keeping secrets."

"Thanks a lot," Harry grumbled. He felt a hollowness in his heart he hadn't ever felt before. The hollowness of having a friend, and losing her.

Ignoring the nip in the air from Luna's mountain scenery, he put his head in his hands and sobbed.

For her part, after she calmed down a little, Daphne scribbled a _very_ angry letter to her father, sent it off via owl, and then went back to her dorm and cried herself to sleep.

**Cyrus Greengrass' Office**

Cyrus was working a late night when an owl tapped at the window. He opened the window and relieved the owl of its burden, and it flew off into the night. It wasn't going to wait for a reply.

He looked at the letter and sighed. His daughter. This could only mean one thing, particularly because the envelope appeared to have a tearstain on it. Steeling himself, he opened the letter.

_Lord Greengrass,_

_I just had a very frank conversation with Mr. Potter, where he told me three secrets. Any one of those secrets would have been enough to cause some concern, but the third one was just over the top. And according to him, he actually talked with you about it and you told him to wait to tell me, when every single one of his friends knew _except _for me!_

_I understand, my Lord. I forget my place. I am sure that he will make a wonderful sire and I hope that I will be an acceptable broodmare. Please feel free to tell me anything you feel important when it is convenient for you, and I will expect the same from my sire. I will be waiting to fulfill my breeding duties when I am sufficiently capable._

_Yours humbly and in supplication,_

_Daphne Greengrass_

Cyrus sighed and put the letter on the table. The ink was smudged in places where apparently tears had fallen on the parchment. Daphne was often outspoken and didn't hesitate to express when she was angry, but this was unusual even for her. She must have been _very_ hurt and angry. She had _never_ called him by his title before in that way, and to imply she was simply a means to bring the family an heir… She knew better than that. He'd been as good a father as he knew how. But he couldn't deny the contract, and he couldn't help but feel there was some truth in her words. Truth be told, that stung. She really knew how to hit where it hurt.

He put his head in his hands. He was going to have to go to Hogwarts tomorrow and have a talk with his daughter. He understood her anger, but that letter was very disrespectful and could not go unanswered. And he also needed to chat with Harry. She was not wrong that he had advised Harry not to tell her until she was a little older. In hindsight, that was probably bad advice. He wanted to protect his daughter, but he didn't think about what would happen once she found out. And being eleven, Harry had probably had no idea how to break the news without causing the kind of reaction he did. He already had a pretty good idea of how the conversation went. "Hey, Daphne, I wasn't going to tell you but I have to now. Your father advised me to wait, but I can't avoid it now. I'm all-powerful and brought down Azkaban. By the way, everyone else knew."

He had no idea how accurate his idea of how the conversation went actually was, minus a few details.

If he had any doubt that Harry had the emotional maturity of an eleven year old, he didn't now. And if he had any doubt that his daughter was a spitfire who had no issue roasting her father over the coals when she thought he screwed up, he didn't now. He smiled to himself. Even though he could not let her disrespect go unanswered, he was actually a little proud of her. Astoria was the bubbly and flighty one, always getting into trouble and mischief. But Daphne…

Daphne was growing up.

He cleared a spot on his calendar to go to Hogwarts the next day. In almost any other circumstance he'd have let them work it out, but a Greengrass always keeps their promise, and he promised Harry a guardian, even though his daughter was involved. He couldn't stay out of this one.

**The Great Hall, Next Morning**

The "Golden Five" was sitting at the Slytherin table, but they were missing one member, Daphne was nowhere to be seen, and Harry looked more depressed than any of his friends had ever seen him.

"What's wrong?", Kamiko asked.

Harry sighed. "I kept too many secrets. Can I ask you all a favor?"

"What?", Hermione said.

"I need to tell Daphne the truth about how you know my secrets."

"Why?", Kamiko said. "What makes Daphne so special that you need to tell her about us?"

Harry said quietly, "Because I have a secret from you all too. I have a marriage contract with Daphne. It is not ironclad, but I have established a relationship with her family, and if I don't come completely clean about everything, everything might go up in smoke. She is very angry that I 'trusted' you all with my secret and not her. She does not understand that you were involved in the secret in the first place and that I didn't tell you anything. And she can't understand that unless I can come clean about how you know." Harry paused. "He offered to be my guardian," Harry said quietly.

"Who?"

"Her father."

Hermione nodded. "I understand now. You finally have a family and you're afraid you're going to lose it."

Harry nodded, mute.

Hermione looked at Kamiko and John, an unspoken question hanging in the air. After some thought, they both nodded. She turned back to Harry. "Only Daphne." Then she thought a little further. "And her father. If he's going to be your guardian, he needs to know." The other two also nodded. Harry looked relieved.

"Thanks," he said, his appreciation genuine. "I think this is the only way forward."

At that moment, Ophelia Greengrass walked up to Harry. "Come with me, please," she said, and as he didn't feel much like eating anyway, he stood up and followed her out of the room.

**A random room in Hogwarts**

Cyrus Greengrass sat across from his daughter, who was looking defiant and scared at the same time. She was still _incredibly_ angry, but she understood she probably overstepped the line, and given that Harry was now, for all intents and purposes, a member of the family, it was not surprising that her father was here, now, sitting across from her.

He was quiet. His face betrayed no emotion. Then he pulled out a letter and put it on the table. "What is the meaning of this letter?", he said calmly.

She sat primly and at attention, exactly how a proper young lady should in a formal situation when speaking with her betters. "I think the letter speaks for itself, my Lord," she said, her eyes downcast in exactly the proper way, again, when speaking to her betters.

Cyrus sighed. "Yes, it does," he said. "Quite clearly. You have managed to take every lesson I've given you on how to behave in polite society and turn it back on me. Quite masterfully, might I add," he said sadly.

"I am glad that my Lord is pleased," she said, quietly.

"I am NOT pleased, Daphne," he snapped, and she jumped. "Your letter was, in its own way, a work of genius. It managed to be completely respectful in almost every way, and yet it was absolutely _dripping_ with disrespect. If you want to consider me your Lord, then I can certainly give you the dressing down you absolutely _deserve_ for that. Is that what you really want?"

She looked up, with rage in her eyes. "You KNEW", she spat. "Everyone knew! And it was being kept from me! Why? Because I wasn't old enough? Everyone else was just as old - or younger! Was it because I wasn't mature enough? Was it because I couldn't be trusted with it, even after I showed him more loyalty than even you did, even after signing that bloody contract? I sort of understand Harry keeping his own counsel. If he didn't want to tell me, that was his right, even though I may never trust him again. But YOU? You AGREED with him! What does that make me, if not simply breeding material, _father,_" she spat, rage in every single word.

Cyrus sat still and absorbed the rant from his daughter. He absorbed it partly because he needed to stay calm, and partly because she was at least partly right. As much as he hated to admit it.

There was silence in the room. Daphne was shaking with rage, and her father was calm, which enraged her even further. "What, _father_? Don't you have anything to say?"

Finally he spoke.

"I partly agree with you, Daphne."

She deflated like someone popped her. "What?", she said, astonished.

He held up his hand. "You gave me what-for. Now you will listen to me. And then we will talk to each other. That is how a mature person holds a conversation. Do you understand?"

She nodded. The rage had drained out of her, and now her eyes were full of sadness.

"When I signed that contract with James, I thought I was giving you a future. I made a decision for you, one that you had no part in, and you are correct that the entire purpose of such a contract is to exchange breeding services for money. I did sign it. I will take full responsibility for that, and for all that it entails. It was doing the right thing by the family, but not doing the right thing by you. As is the nature of all contracts of this nature. They are, first and foremost, to benefit the family. Some people learn to love the people they are contracted to. Some strictly adhere to the contract and never speak to each other again after producing and raising an heir. Some do not go through with the contract and take whatever penalties that entails, some of which can be severe. So your accusation of that contract making you a 'broodmare', as you so poetically put it, is not really so far from the truth."

He was quiet for a little while. "That is why I am speaking to you civilly right now, and not tanning your behind and yelling at you for disrespecting me and your house. I believe I deserved some of what you dished out."

Her eyes were lowered, and she was quiet. This was not going how she expected.

"But, as you pointed out, at a time when you were actually showing maturity, I have a responsibility to Harry as well. As you pointed out to me as well, he was let down in every conceivable way. I was hoping that as you got to know him, you would be a little more willing to accept the things about him that make him…. Very unique. I seem to have underestimated your maturity in that regard. Regardless, that is why I advised him to wait to tell you. Not because you could not be trusted, and not because you were not to know, but simply because I wanted you to know him as Harry before you knew him by his… other titles. I cannot speak for him, but I think he felt the same way."

"Then why did he tell his friends?", she asked, her voice now showing her hurt rather than her anger.

"That I don't know. I would be interested in hearing the answer to that myself. I have not yet spoken with Harry, but I suspect he handled the situation with about as much grace as a typical eleven year old boy, with a spattering of rampaging dragon thrown into the mix. I am not only here to speak with you, Daphne."

He walked over to the door and opened it. Ophelia and Harry were standing outside. "Thank you, mother," Cyrus said, and she walked away. "Harry, please come in." It was polite, but not a request.

Harry sat on the other side of the table from Daphne, and would not look at her. She did not look at him either. He was surprised, but not surprised, to see Cyrus.

"Harry," Cyrus said, "you seem to have caused my daughter a great deal of consternation. Let me guess how the conversation last night went. I bet it was something to the effect of, 'Daphne, I haven't told you yet because your father advised me to wait, but now I have to because you'll find out anyway, so here it is. Oh, and everyone else knew. ' Is that pretty accurate?

He lowered his eyes and nodded his head. "Missing a few details, but accurate in its essence," he said.

He nodded. "I expected as much. Only an eleven year old rampaging dragon with far too much responsibility could have bollocksed this up this badly. I'm not here to patch things up between you and Daphne. That's up to you two. And I'm not taking sides, I want to make that clear. But she has a question to which I think she is entitled to an answer, and I must confess to being curious as to the answer myself. When I advised you to wait to tell Daphne, I wasn't aware that you had told your friends. Why did you see fit to tell your friends and deliberately wait to tell Daphne?"

Harry nodded. "I think that's a fair question. I could probably not have answered it satisfactorily last night. The reason I could not go into detail was because to tell you the full story would mean that the secrets of four other people would have to be revealed, and I did not have permission to tell them. I would not have betrayed their secrets. Cyrus, I told you the truth, but I left out those details. I got permission to tell you those details this morning. Only you two. I hope you will understand why when I tell you."

He turned to Daphne. "Daphne, I did not tell any of my four other friends. One of them was far too perceptive and figured it out on her own. The other three were a part of the process of my becoming Champion."

And he proceeded to tell both of them about what had happened the day before he went to Hogwarts, how Kamiko and John had come into being, and how he was named as the Champion of Yeshua.

After he was finished, he concluded. "So you see, to have told you why they knew when you didn't would have meant violating the privacy of four people I consider friends. You didn't have that context, and I could not have given you that context. I regret how I handled last night, Daphne, but you jumped to many conclusions and gave me no chance whatsoever to even attempt to explain. I could have at least told you that they were involved in the situation and that I did not tell them. Because that is the truth. The others who know are adults and need to know for various reasons."

Daphne appeared lost in thought. Cyrus leaned back in his chair. He was the first to speak.

"Well, Harry, considering what you just told me, I think you had a perfectly valid, if complicated, reason for your friends knowing but not telling Daphne. Daphne?"

The room was quiet for a while, as Daphne thought. Finally she sighed. "Yes, I did jump to conclusions. I'm sorry for that. I thought you didn't trust me to know, when you trusted all of your friends."

"I had no choice but to trust them," Harry said gently. "It wasn't only my secrets I was guarding. I want Kamiko and John to live as normal a life as is possible, considering the circumstances. They deserve as much."

"Damn you and your bloody loyalty", Daphne said with tears in her eyes, and ran over and hugged him. He hugged her back, until Cyrus cleared his throat. She blushed, disengaged herself, and sat back down in her chair. She did not stop blushing.

"So, Daphne, what have you learned?", Cyrus said, all father again.

"I learned not to jump to conclusions and get all of the facts before I get angry enough to accuse you of making me a broodmare."

Harry looked at her quizzically, and Cyrus shook his head. "Drop it, please, Harry. That will lead to nothing good."

Harry nodded.

"And what did you learn, Harry?"

Harry thought. "I keep far too many secrets. I should keep fewer."

Cyrus chuckled. "A worthy lesson, but sometimes secrets must be kept, and I think we both understand why you kept yours now. But what else did you learn?"

He thought a bit more. He wasn't really sure what lesson he was supposed to take from this, but after thinking, he thought he had it. "I didn't take Daphne's feelings into account when I told her. I pretty much gave her little choice but to think the worst."

"Well, she did choose to run before getting all the facts, but essentially correct. It was an avoidable circumstance if you had chosen how you presented it a little more carefully."

He picked up Daphne's letter and put it in the pocket of his coat. "I will take my leave now. Normally I would have left you two to settle your differences on your own. But Harry, I have as much of a responsibility to you now as I do to Daphne, and that makes my involvement… tricky. Thank you for providing the necessary answers. Please do go and get some breakfast before classes." He stood up and walked out of the room.

After the door closed, Daphne turned to Harry with her piercing blue eyes, and an unreadable expression her face. "You will tell me at some point soon what being all of the things you are means." It was neither a request or a question.

He met her gaze. "And you will not question my loyalty until I have given you good reason to, and that means knowing all the facts before you get angry and run out." This was also neither a request nor a question.

Daphne nodded, and offered her hand. Harry took it, and they both walked back to the Great Hall, not releasing hands until they were seated at the table. There was still a little food left, and they ate well before they had to go to class.

**Wizengamot**

A couple of days later was the fated meeting of the Wizengamot. People in plum colored robes, who had grown used to the trappings of power and wealth, filtered into the room and took their seats. Finally, everyone was seated, the reporters had their quills over their parchments, ready to transcribe all of the proceedings, and the doors were closed with a mighty slam.

The Chief Warlock, who was now Griselda Marchbanks, an old witch even by Wizard standards but known for being tough but fair, banged the gavel. "The second meeting of the Wizengamot in September, 1991, shall come to order."

There were a few orders of business to take care of, but by all respects, this was to be a fairly routine meeting, and it seemed a few members didn't even bother to show up. With the loss of the Death Eaters, this meant that they were having difficulty even gathering a quorum. The loss of the Death Eaters had caused significant damage to the Wizengamot as an institution, damage that they were finding it difficult to circumvent. Lord Black had been found innocent, but he was currently being treated in St Mungos for dementor exposure, and several other lords were either too young or unable for other reasons to take their positions. So it was a much smaller body than usual that was meeting for the day. Only two people in the room were waiting patiently to see what was about to go down.

Fiinally the time came for new business.

"Does anyone have new business to bring before this body?", the Chief Warlock said, expecting nothing. But Amelia Bones stood up.

"The Warlock recognizes Minister Amelia Bones. What business do you have to bring before this August body?"

Amelia paused. She had rehearsed this moment in her head for several weeks, but now that the time was before her, she felt like she may lose her nerve.

"Lords and Ladies," she said loudly and clearly, "It has come to my attention that there has been interference in the Wizard World by a person who calls himself the "Champion of Yeshua". I believe his actions were discussed in the previous meeting, but nothing was decided. I am pleased to announce that I have determined who he is, and he is willing to come before this body to explain himself."

There was an uproar amongst the members of the Wizengamot, until Madame Marchbanks banged her gavel, and the furor quieted down.

"Well, then, Madame Bones, please bring him forward."

She squeezed her bracelet for five seconds, and waited. The room was getting antsy as they waited for him to appear. Finally, eight hooded figures faded in, seven of them to one side, and one of them next to Amelia.

"Esteemed members of the Wizengamot, I give you… The Champion of Yeshua!"

The robed figure moved away from Amelia and made his way to the center of the room. He flipped down his hood, revealing the face of Harry Potter.

There was pandemonium in the room that did not settle down for several minutes, no matter how hard Madame Marchbanks tried to create order.

A/N And I am going to leave it on this cliffie. I haven't had many cliffies in this story, so we're about due for one.

This was a hard chapter to write. I had written several interactions between Harry and Daphne, and had scrubbed nearly all of them. I kept having to remind myself that they were both eleven years old and would handle the situation in a way that adults probably wouldn't. It took me a while to put myself in that mindset so I could write it. I really do like how it turned out, though. I tried to write Cyrus as a tough but fair parent who is aware of his own shortcomings and mistakes, and is prepared to allow his children to be angry at him if he feels he deserves it.

Daphne is really a spitfire, isn't she? She's going to be a force of nature when she grows up a bit and learns to channel that temper. Even at eleven, she really knows how to cut deep. I'm a huge fan of Luna, but I like the character that Daphne is turning out to be. Fiercely loyal and somewhat open with her heart, but unwilling to be anyone's doormat, and able to direct her temper in such a way as to _hurt_ when she wants to. That's why I really like this chapter.

Next chapter: The Wizengamot finds out who's really in charge. That one should be fun to write.


	11. Vanity of Vanities - Ecclesiastes

**Slytherin Common Room - before breakfast**

Harry laid in wait for Daphne, and when he saw her, he walked up to her and gently grabbed her arm, stopping her from leaving.

"Wha-?", she said, not expecting that. She looked a little peeved.

"You got upset with me for keeping secrets, and that's not going to happen again. But not here."

She hesitated, then nodded. They quickly found a quiet place to talk.

"Daphne," he said, "something's going to go down at the Wizengamot today. Only two people know. One of them is your father, but only because he wants to be my guardian and is in the Wizengamot. I have no idea at all how it's going to turn out, but it's probably going to shake up the wizard world quite a bit. Don't even hint that you know, but don't be surprised if the fallout is _immediate_."

She looked a little scared. "Is it a bad thing?"

He sighed. "No, I don't think it is at all. But most of the Wizengamot will probably disagree. Plus, toss an unpredictable deity into the mix…"

Her eyes opened wide. "Yeshua's involved?"

He nodded. "On every level."

The wheels turned in her mind, and she decided she was better off not knowing any more. She just impulsively hugged him for a minute or two, until he relaxed a little. Then she let go and gave him a little peck on the cheek. "Just for good luck," she said. Then, her expression carefully schooled, she left for breakfast. After a minute to get over the shock, he followed. He wasn't sure how much he was going to eat, he was very anxious. But Daphne had helped. More than he wanted to admit.

**Judge's Common Room**

Harry sat in the common room with all of the judges, who were cloaked and ready to go. A few of them seemed fearful and anxious, and a couple of others seemed like they were looking forward to the carnage. He figured that Yeshua had his reasons for choosing them, so he let it slide.

"I only have one thing to say," Harry said. "I have absolutely no idea what is going to happen when we arrive at the Wizengamot. None at all. It would not surprise me if all of the members turned into pelicans and stood on one leg while the reporters tried to turn their squawks into a story."

The judges all giggled, and Harry was glad for that. It meant he was putting them at ease.

"But remember, whatever happens, you were chosen by Yeshua. You probably know what that means more than I - I'm not that familiar with the Bible or any of that. He just up and chose me, just like he up and chose you. So whatever happens, take comfort in that. He chose you. That _means_ something."

The group nodded. They seemed a bit more at ease.

Harry heard Yeshua's voice in his head. "Good speech. It's just about showtime. You're not going to be on your own. Don't make any concrete plans. Just, whatever happens, roll with it. Alright then?"

Harry thought to Yeshua "What do you have up your sleeve?"

Yeshua chuckled. "There's no point in ruining the surprise, is there? I can't promise it'll be fun, but I think it'll be entertaining. Time to go". And at that same moment, he felt the tug of Amelia's bracelet.

He shrugged and turned to the judges. "Showtime." And they all vanished.

**Wizengamot Chambers**

Harry arrived next to Amelia, and he slowly walked to the center of the room. It was so quiet you could hear a pin drop. Once he got to the center of the room, he flipped down his cowl to reveal his face. The room erupted in such pandemonium at that revelation that he wasn't exactly sure what to do. So he just stood there while people were yelling and shouting from the seats.

"Harry Potter? The Champion of Yeshua?"

"Well, he _is_ the 'chosen one'"

"Yes, but to kill Voldemort, not… _this!_"

"Who does he think he is anyway?"

"He brought down Azkaban, what do you think he could do to _us_?"

Finally the Chief Warlock banged her gavel, and though it took a couple of minutes people had mostly settled down. Harry stood motionless throughout the whole thing, simply looking at the crowd. He was not aware that his face was glowing.

The Chief Warlock spoke. "Harry Potter. Or should I say, the Champion of Yeshua. Madame Bones told us you were here to explain yourself. Why did you destroy Azkaban and move all of the prisoners to the holding cells? What gave you that right?"

Harry turned and looked at the Chief Warlock. His eyes were now glowing too, with a glow that tore right through her and suddenly had her fearing her ultimate judgement. His eyes were accusing, judging, and dismissing her as nothing, and at the same time promising forgiveness and redemption. He was not aware of any of this.

He said simply, "Justice."

She was trembling now. Still she soldiered on, she had a job to do. "Justice? How is it justice to destroy the prison we kept our worst criminals in?"

The glow in his eyes intensified, and she cringed backwards. The people in the seats could not see his eyes, all they could see was her reaction, and it was scaring them.

"How, Chief Warlock, is it justice to create a prison guarded by over a hundred actual _demons_? You did not only send your worst criminals there. You also sent people you wanted to get rid of. Some of them were innocent. Why is Lord Black not here today?"

"Because - because…"

"Because he is in St. Mungos recovering from ten years of dementor exposure after it was found that he _never even had a trial_. Madame, _do not speak to me about justice._" His voice took on a tone that put fear into the hearts of everyone in the room. This was not the voice of an eleven year old boy. This was the voice of God, of magic itself.

"You want me to explain myself. How about I explain _you_?" Words were starting to pour out of his mouth that he had little control of. "This body, and others like it, were created around eight hundred years ago as a response to the feudal battles occurring all over the world. It was thought that if all of the Lords and Ladies got together and worked things out in a semi-formal environment, that perhaps the worst of the bloodshed could be curtailed. And it did work. For the time, this body was a step forward. Now, it is nothing but a relic of feudal culture, full of corruption, graft, and injustice, propped up by a semi-feudal system that became obsolete far too many years ago."

"How dare you!," said one man from the seats. Harry turned to look at him, and he cringed back as the eyes of judgement bore through him, judging him and finding him wanting.

"How dare I? How dare you? Calling me in front of you like a common criminal, expecting an explanation of why I destroyed one of the darkest and most evil places in the world, because it was _inconvenient_."

"It was not -"

"_One hundred demons_", Harry thundered. "Not dark creatures, not creations of a twisted mind, not human souls who had lost their way, not relics of a failed dark lord. _Demons_. Do not try to defend this abomination!"

He paused, and gazed at everyone, one at a time, and they shrank back from his glowing eyes as the light shining from him became brighter.

"The demons were brought into this world due to your hubris, the demons were imprisoned because even at your greatest you could not figure out how to do nought but contain them, and then one of you got the idea to build a _prison_ around them, because _why waste a hundred perfectly good demons_. Right?"

The chief warlock spoke up. "I don't know -"

"You don't," he said. "Much information has been lost to time. Mostly because some of the wisest amongst you realized that you didn't _deserve_ it. And even the institution that they created to keep it from you eventually _itself_ got corrupted, and it had to be destroyed. You have absolutely no idea what was going on beneath your very noses, and as long as you remained wealthy, fat, and happy, and could keep superiority over your fiefdoms, such as they are now, you didn't care and barely even noticed."

The room was now deathly quiet. There was not a peep. Because everyone who listened knew it was _truth_. They didn't know how they knew, but they knew. The weeping of a lone woman stood out amongst the silence. Harry was now shining like a small sun, his facial features almost lost to the brilliance, and the light radiating from him casting shadows behind the people in the seats. They could barely stand to look at him now.

Harry spoke again. "I am Yeshua's champion. I speak for Yeshua, and he speaks through me. Yeshua is magic, and magic is Yeshua, and yet he is much more. He is the creator, he is above all other Gods, and he has taken notice. Through me, Yeshua destroyed the demons. And, today, judgement is at hand. The Wizengamot shall be reformed, or it _shall be destroyed_. THUS SAYETH YESHUA."

And like a light being switched off, Harry's brilliance receded.

And his eleven year old voice returned. "And I am here to tell you how it is going to be reformed."

**Cyrus' Greengrass' Study, after the Wizengamot meeting**

After Harry faded the judges back, with a couple going with Minister Bones to judge the people in the holding cells, he went to visit Cyrus, as they had agreed earlier. Cyrus was seated in his large chair, just looking out the window, when Harry arrived, and Harry sat down and waited for Cyrus to speak.

Cyrus shook his head. "Harry, that was… an experience I will never forget. And an experience that none of us in the room will forget. How did you even _do_ that?"

Harry shrugged. "I didn't. Half the time I didn't even know what my next word was going to be. For all intents and purposes, Yeshua was speaking directly to you all."

"When you gazed at me, I could feel the judgement, where I was weighed in the balance and found wanting. I saw everything bad I've ever done, replayed in front of me, and it could not survive in the face of… whatever that was. I regret far more than I did this morning," he said sadly.

"I don't know what that was either, Cyrus. Remember, I'm not Yeshua. I'm sure there's a name for it, but I'm so tired of labels. Just call it what you want, I suppose. I imagine everyone else in the meeting had the same experience."

"I think so," Cyrus said slowly, and then got up and got a bottle of firewhiskey. "I'm sorry, Harry. I'm usually not a drinker. I've probably drank more over the past few weeks than in the past year. But this is a lot." He poured himself a generous helping and downed it in one gulp. "Non-magicals as judges for the Magical kingdom. I never thought I'd see the day."

"At least they took it relatively well," Harry said.

"Truthfully, I doubt anyone was even listening by that point. It may be a rude awakening when they are actually put into use."

"Well, we'll deal with that when it comes."

"I suppose so." Cyrus sighed. "Don't take this the wrong way, Harry. We're glad to have you as a part of our family. But now I regret signing that marriage contract."

Harry frowned. "Why?"

"Harry, I am, or am about to be, your guardian. After today, all you have to say is the word, and they'll probably bend over backwards to give you what you want. Cursing you under their breath all the way, I imagine, but you have pretty much cemented your position as the _de facto_ ruler of Magical Great Britain at this point. Everyone got the message, Harry. We all exist at your whim." He raised his hand as Harry started to protest. "_Yeshua's_ whim, fine, but what's the difference anymore?"

Harry stayed quiet. Honestly, he was a little hurt.

"But I am also the father to a daughter. It's my job to protect her, as much as it is my job to protect you, though I'm pretty sure you can take care of yourself at this point many times over. You are eleven years old, have a great deal of power, are _obviously_ not afraid to use it. You don't do so capriciously and it's to your credit that I have never seen you use it irresponsibly - in fact, apart from today, I have never actually seen you use it except for that demonstration you gave me and your rather odd method of transportation. So the problem is not that I think you are a danger to my daughter. In fact, she is probably safer around you than almost anyone in the world. But I'm more concerned by what kind of _role model_ you will be."

Harry pushed back the hurt. He was a little hurt, but he thought he saw where Cyrus was going with this. So he just said, "Go on."

"As I said, you are at this point the _de facto_ ruler of Magical Great Britain, and you are eleven years old. My daughter is also eleven years old. It is a very impressionable age for both of you. I have been trying to raise my daughter to survive in Pureblood wizard society, and you basically just uprooted that in the space of about ten minutes. She will look up to you as a role model, whether or not you like it, and even whether or not she is _aware_ of it. That is simply the state of things. You may even be more of a role model than me, now."

"You're afraid of the influence I will have on Daphne," Harry said. It wasn't a question.

Cyrus sighed again. "If I'm to be perfectly honest with you, Harry, yes, I am. Everything you do from this point on will be magnified in her mind. You will almost _literally_ be a knight in shining armor, and I'm just her father."

He turned to the window again and stared out at the scenery.

"Daphne is eleven. But she is a girl. And she won't be a girl forever. Soon she will be a woman, with all that entails. How can I expect you to be a good role model, when you're no more mature than she is?"

There was still hurt, but Harry thought he understood Cyrus' position. He didn't know much about how the teenage mind worked, because he didn't have one yet, but he could see why the situation concerned him so much, at least a little. He thought about his answer. Cyrus continued looking out his window. Harry could not see the wetness in his eyes.

In the silence, punctuated only by the ticking of a rather intricate clock sitting on a shelf, Harry thought to himself. The truth is, he _was_ eleven. He didn't ask for any of this, and it really wasn't fair to have all of these expectations put onto him that he knew he couldn't live up to. He was Yeshua's champion, but without him, he was nothing but a human, just like anyone else. And he was going to be a bad role model sometimes.

"Cyrus," He finally said, drawing his words out because he was uncertain about what he was going to say. "You're right. I _am_ eleven years old. I didn't ask for this position or this responsibility, even though I accepted it. I don't know what to say to allay your concerns. You're probably right on all accounts. She will see me as a role model, she will become a woman and I will become a man, and neither of us are mature enough for any of this."

He drew in a breath. "Truthfully, it does hurt that you regret, in some way, taking me into your family. Yes," he said, "I know you said you're glad to have me in your family, but Daphne said herself that your signing the marriage contract was essentially a promise to merge our families. When you said you regretted signing the contract, that is what you were saying, even if that's not what you meant."

Cyrus flinched a little. He hadn't thought of how Harry might have taken that.

"Harry, that's -"

"Not what you meant, I know. You're trying to tell me about a very legitimate concern you have about your family. I should be the last person to begrudge a man trying to protect his family, considering I never had one." That last bit kind of hit too close to home for Cyrus.

Harry thought a little further. Finally he shrugged. "I really don't know what to tell you. Your concerns are valid, and there's nothing I can credibly say to address them."

Cyrus turned back to Harry, and there was a tear running down his cheek. "You're right, Harry. There isn't. We're just going to have to take it as it comes. I'll have a talk with Daphne and tell her something similar to what I told you, and then we'll just have to see what happens."

"I'm not the type of person to besmirch your daughter's honor, Cyrus," Harry said just a little defensively. "I hope you know that of me by now."

Cyrus smiled wanly. "For all I just said, Harry, it's not you besmirching my daughter's honor that I'm worried about."

Harry blushed. He remembered the peck on his cheek from the morning.

"You're only eleven, Harry. You don't know anything about life yet. But you will. And men are not the only ones who make bad decisions. And sometimes, those bad decisions are _very_ hard for us men to resist. You'll understand in time."

Harry thought he saw, finally, where Cyrus was going. He didn't distrust Harry, per se. That's not what he was trying to say. But a girl with raging hormones and being betrothed to the most powerful person in Magical Great Britain might make some very bad and rash decisions, and Harry would find them very hard to resist. Or so he'd heard, anyway.

"I think I understand, Cyrus. I'm only human. There's nothing I can promise. But I will keep this in mind in my future interactions with her."

"Thank you, Harry. That's all I can ask. It will be hard for her to see you as 'just Harry' again, after today. But if your marriage contract is to eventually bear fruit, pardon the expression, it needs to be because she wants to be with you for you, not because of what you are. That's why I wanted to keep this from her as long as possible." He chuckled darkly. "Not my best decision, frankly."

"Neither of us thought that one through, Cyrus. If I had thought, I would have realized how she would have taken it if everyone knew but her and she didn't know why."

"Same with me, Harry." He sighed and looked longingly at his firewhiskey bottle, but he did not pour another glass. "Same with me." He turned back to the window and Harry knew it was time to go. So he left.

**Room of Requirement, Moon Configuration**

Harry sat in a small chair in the bubble of oxygen that magic had created that made the moon comfortable. In fact, he still wasn't sure whether he was actually on the moon or something else. He just looked up at the earth, staring at it. With the exception of a few people perhaps on the Space Shuttle, everyone he knew would be on that shining ball of blue. Yeshua faded in next to him.

"Amazing room, isn't it?", Yeshua said. "I would say it's the pinnacle of human achievement, but it's not. But it's quite amazing in its own right."

"Is it real?", Harry asked, still looking at the earth hovering above him in the sky.

"It is and it isn't. That's the funny thing about this room," he said. "You're on the moon, as it would appear, right now, but in a separate space where no one would be able to see you if they looked right at you, nor would any impact you had on the real moon last once you leave the room. Frankly, neither you nor non-magical physicists have a word for it, its development was a happy accident, honestly. There was enough power available that the castle just… manifested it to protect the Heart of Hogwarts. Even it doesn't really know how. The Universe is much bigger and more complicated than it appears." Yeshua manifested a chair and sat down next to him. "That's why it's easier for me to manifest in this room. I can of course manifest anywhere," he said, "but it takes just a little less of _me_ to do it. None of this is making sense, is it, Harry?

Harry shook his head. "No, but I'm getting used to that."

"And that's when it all starts to make sense," Yeshua said. Harry just stayed silent.

Finally Yeshua broke the silence. "Today is bothering you, isn't it?"

Harry chuckled darkly. "Of course it is, you know that. You know everything.", he said, with just a trace of venom.

Yeshua didn't react the same way he did the last time Harry was upset with him, to Harry's surprise.

"True, but just because I know something doesn't mean you don't need to talk about it."

"Cyrus was right, you know. I am now the _de facto_ ruler of Magical Great Britain. Yeah," he waved his hand dismissively, "I know it's not my power, and I know it's actually you, but that doesn't matter. When they saw me, they saw you, and now, _whenever_ they see me, they'll see you. I'll never live a normal life again."

Yeshua was quiet for a bit. "Did you ever live a normal life before?"

"No. But it would be nice to know what it's like for once in my life."

Yeshua was quiet again for a while. "You know, there are so many people out there who would love to be in your shoes right now. They'd settle scores, do things their way, and make a right bloody mess of it all."

Harry jumped. "You swear?"

Yeshua laughed. "I know words you have never heard of, in every language ever written or spoken, and I have seen people deliberately trying to think up new ones just to give me something new to think about. Occasionally they even succeed, and I think that's rather hilarious. I rarely use them, but in this world, sometimes there's just no other way to express some things."

Harry sat quietly.

"But not you," he said. "I gave you this without you asking. You accepted the responsibility, but you never really wanted it. You knew what it would mean if you used it. Which is one reason why I knew I could trust you with it."

"That's all fine and good," Harry said, "but it doesn't change anything. Cyrus said that people will be falling all over themselves to give me whatever I want now, all the while cursing me under their breath. I can't imagine him not being right about that."

"He is.", Yeshua said simply. "But not everyone. Some people are afraid of me because they cannot come to terms with the fact that there is something out there with the authority to tell them that they aren't who they think they are. Those are the people who would consider themselves your enemies. Of those people, value the ones who curse you to your face, because at least they were honest. Honest anger is better than deceitful worship. But some people are on board with my plan, even if they don't know what it is. Don't become bitter, Harry. It's not becoming of you."

Harry was quiet. "I fear it may be a little too late for that."

"Why, Harry?"

Harry turned to look at Yeshua. There was a small amount of rage in his eyes. "Why did you do this to me, Yeshua? Why was I born to whom I was, why did Voldemort try to kill me, why was I put with my relatives? And now you've made it so that it'll be impossible for me to ever live a normal life again! Now everyone will look at me and say 'look! It's the Champion of Yeshua!' instead of 'Hi Harry' or even 'who's that?' Why have you taken every chance I've ever had for peace in my life away?"

Yeshua was quiet. Harry's chest was heaving, like he had just run a marathon. Yeshua was quiet.

"You feel I've done wrong by you.", Yeshua said quietly.

"Well, _someone_ has", Harry spat. "And since you're God in every way that counts, it might as well be you!"

Yeshua sighed. "You're not the first to accuse me, Harry, and you won't be the last. Trust me, there's little you can say that I haven't heard before. I know it doesn't make it any less real for _you_, but everyone's heart cries out to me in the same way, in one way or other. And it's worse because, especially with you, I can't deny the accusations. Yes, I did that to you, for my own reasons. But tell me this, Harry, do you think anyone else feels any different? Do you think there is even one fully happy or content person in this world?"

"Yes!"

"Who, then? Who do you want to be?"

Harry thought, and after a moment, he deflated. "I can't think of anyone. Every time I do, I think of the struggles that they might have too. I don't know who else I'd want to be."

"Then why not be you?"

Harry stared at the earth, about 240,000 miles away, and thought.

Yeshua pressed on. "If I were to make you someone else, you'd have something else to curse me for. Everyone has their own struggles. Why are you envious of others?"

"Because if I had been normal maybe I would have had a family and not have had to go through hell for ten years! Why shouldn't I be envious of that?"

"Ah, the Dursleys. Yes, I've seen their works. No wonder you want to be 'normal'. That's all they ever wanted too, and maybe if you had been, they would have loved you. Right?"

"Maybe," Harry said. "I'm not sure they knew the meaning of the word."

"Dudley was loved, by their definition," Yeshua said. "He could do no wrong in their eyes. He is fat, spoiled, lazy, and a bully. Is that what you would rather have been?"

"Of course not!"

"Then why are you upset that I made you weak so that I could make you strong through me?"

"Because it _hurt_, Yeshua! Why can't you seem to understand that?"

Yeshua was quiet. Finally he said, softly enough that Harry had to strain to hear him. "I do, Harry. More than you could possibly know. I know what this world is like to one who is born into adversity, to be reviled by all but a few who know him, even those who hang on to his every word in some cases, to only be used for his abilities, and then when he crossed one too many lines because of who he was meant to be, was hung on a cross until dead. And then I was resurrected, only to become one with humanity and know all of their pain as well. I know pain, Harry, far more than you do."

"So knowing that, why don't you seem to care?"

Yeshua sighed. "My purpose in this world isn't to take away the pain of existence. It never was. In fact, I was born of pain. My purpose in the world is to give people enough meaning to be able to overcome the pain and still have something to live for. I'm sorry, Harry, for everything that you went through. I truly am. But you have to use some shite to grow a beautiful flower sometimes."

Harry continued staring at the earth, imaging the teeming of over six billion people, all on that one blue orb.

"Wounds take time to heal, Harry. You are more wounded than most. I did bring you into this situation, it's true. But without me, would your life have any meaning at all?"

"It doesn't have any meaning now!"

"It does, Harry! I give it meaning. I exist to save you and everyone else, if you'll but _let_ me. Do you know what frustrates me, Harry, more than anything else? I've been here for two thousand years, sometimes I all but announce 'Here I am! Come find me! Free salvation here!' For some people, it couldn't be any clearer if I put it on a hillside with 200 foot tall flaming letters. And still they don't even care. They just go their own way, on with their meaningless lives, trying to find a way to give their life meaning and always, _always_ failing, because there _isn't_ one. Don't you understand, Harry? _There is no meaning without me_. That is why you have endured what you have. The Dursleys didn't know me or care about me, and their life was just as meaningless as everyone else's. They tried to hide it with the trappings of wealth, prosperity, and meaningless success, but they were empty husks of people who wouldn't listen to me if I showed up right in front of them. They were as broken as everyone else. But now, here I am. I took what you endured and am using it to literally change the world. How many other people could _possibly_ say that?"

Harry lowered his head. "I suppose I am being a bit ungrateful."

"A bit," Yeshua said. "But it's understandable. You don't see the world from my point of view. From the very first humanoid creature that was intelligent enough to understand its own mortality, this has been the story of mankind. You're not any different from anyone else, Harry. Remember that everyone else has wounds and is flawed as well, just like you. You know how bad your aunt Marge was to you? She was Vernon's sister. What did _his_ father do? And his? And his before that? All the way back to the beginning, Harry. I'm trying to fix that. I've been trying to fix that for two thousand years. And now, it will happen. Soon. The world your children will be born into will be very different than this one. And your children's children will have an even different world. And it's all because of you. And all because of me. Isn't that worth ten years of suffering?"

Harry nodded. He didn't trust his words. They were both quiet for a while. Finally Harry changed the subject.

"Yeshua, I care about Daphne," Harry said. "I don't know why, but I do. I'm too young to consider being _with_ her, but the idea of her idol worshipping me instead of knowing me for who I am is a hurtful thought."

"Cyrus is a father, Harry. He knows his daughter. But he's also human, and he is neither all wise nor infallible. He has valid concerns, but he is not Daphne. Let her prove herself. And, Harry, you're not too young to care about her. No one is too young to care about someone else. You're too young to court her or mate with her. There's a big difference."

"Why do you always refer to it as 'mating'?"

"Because that's what it is. Some people have this idea that you fall in love first, then you marry. But sometimes it's the opposite. You marry, then you fall in love. That's why I've always told people to be careful with mating, it's very emotionally powerful, and treating it in a casual manner causes immense damage that is not immediately obvious. The bond between two willing lovers is not easily broken, even when they have not created a legal or magical bond, and when it does finally break, it leaves damage, sometimes severe damage. Some things transcend magic, and mating is one of them."

Harry sighed. "So what do I do?"

"Same thing you did before today. Use your authority for purposes I would approve of, delegate when necessary, try to live as normal a life as possible given your unique gifts and abilities, and just try to have a little fun with it. I know about that thunderstorm you made, both times."

Harry blushed.

"I'm not scolding you for it, Harry. You picked a decent place for it, protected those who needed protecting, and cleaned up after you were done. That's about all I could ask. I know you're hesitant to use your authority, but I never told you that you weren't allowed to have a little fun or blow off some steam sometimes. That's not misusing it, as long as you don't cause anyone else harm. What, do you think _I_ don't have a little fun with it, sometimes? I've pulled a few practical jokes on people in the past couple of thousand years. Those who knew it was me shared a laugh. Those who didn't may not have laughed, but the looks on their faces… but I never harmed them. All in good fun, Harry. Just know where the line is."

Harry thought. "How does that thunderstorm work? I don't know much about weather, but I thought you at least had to have the right conditions for it."

Yeshua laughed, a full throated laugh. "Harry, haven't you figured it out yet? The world isn't what it seems. What you can accomplish through magic and through me is only limited by your imagination. And when that falls short, it's only limited by _my_ imagination. You commanded a thunderstorm, and then all of the ingredients were in place for a thunderstorm, _as if they were always there_. You have so much to learn about how the world works. But then, so does everyone else. That's why I had to put the restrictions on you that I did. If I gave you the authority to actually kill, you would be one of the most dangerous people in the Universe. As it stands, you very nearly are already."

Harry sighed. "I wish I was mature enough to handle this."

Yeshua patted Harry on the shoulder. "You're not, but you will be. And I'm always here to make up the difference. I must take my leave now. I'm always with you, Harry." And he faded out, leaving Harry to stare at the earth from his spot on the moon. Eventually, he called the door and left the room. He had things to do. Like tell some people what went down before the Prophet arrived.

_God takes over Wizarding Britain_

_By Scribulus Scribe_

_Yesterday, in a shocking turn of events, an ordinary Wizengamot meeting turned into a legendary moment when the Champion of Yeshua arrived in the meeting hall, ostensibly to explain himself. Instead, he thoroughly dressed down members of the Wizengamot, reduced some to weeping, and then described sweeping changes that would immediately be imposed on our justice system._

_More shocking was the identity of the Champion of Yeshua, who was none other than Harry Potter, the eleven year old boy known as the "Boy-Who-Lived" for his destruction of the late Tom Riddle, also known as Voldemort, the first time. Apparently the title of "chosen one" meant far more than anyone suspected._

_The champion admitted proudly to having taken down Azkaban, calling the Dementors "demons" and questioning the governing ability of the Wizengamot for sending people to such a prison. It appears that an innocent man, Lord Sirius Black, was recently released after ten years of imprisonment, so it is not an idle claim. Many in the Wizengamot called this encounter a "life changing event", and what few interviews we were able to get from those who attended stated that they felt judged and found wanting, and see cause to reexamine their lives. This reporter, who was at this meeting, agrees with their assessment. It was truly a life-altering and somewhat unpleasant experience._

_Similar events have been reported all over the world, with many magical countries having had similar events occur at meetings of their governing bodies, and those countries who have not yet had their meetings are resignedly preparing for the worst. It seems that God, in whatever form he may take, has taken an interest in wizard society and will be imposing his sense of order on the world._

_Let us only hope that this God is a merciful God and not a vengeful God, though based upon the performance of his champion at the meeting, we can only hold out hope. May God have mercy on our souls, as one of the most important questions we forgot to ask has been answered._

_For a transcript of what the Champion said, see page 2. _

_For a (revised) history of the Wizengamot, see page 3. _

_For a description of the impact on our justice system and analysis by barristers, see page 4._

_For the backstory on Yeshua and other information, see page 5._

_Special note: In anticipation of people wanting to learn about Yeshua, Flourish and Blotts is now stocking muggle Bibles. It is said that they contain information on a ritual that he performed which gained him his current status. For a summary, see page 5._

A/N: It's a short chapter again, but this is a good place to end it, I think. I could add more stuff but the cliffie is resolved and now the wizard world knows the truth. Or some of it, anyway.

I am trying to write both Harry and Cyrus as human. Cyrus is not a Dumbledore or Gandalf figure for Harry - he is a very flawed person who is trying to do the right thing, and he makes mistakes, too. He is a flawed person - a human.

And so is Harry. Harry doesn't really like the position he's been placed in, and is, honestly, a bit bitter about it. I may explore that a bit. Harry is very powerful, but in the end, it is his humanity that shines, not his authority.

And after this A/N, I wrote the scene where Harry accuses Yeshua. Not as short a chapter as I thought.


	12. Difficult Conversations

**Difficult Conversations**

**A Random Room in Hogwarts, After Dinner**

Cyrus Greengrass sat in a small meeting room, his daughter sitting across from him. She did not know why he was there, but assumed it had something to do with why Harry had to go to the Wizengamot Harry had promised explanations but Cyrus got there first, so she wasn't going to blame Harry for that.

"Why are you here, father?" she said primly.

Cyrus sighed. "Daphne, I need to tell you how the wizard world changed today, and what role your betrothed had to do with it. And then we need to talk, because I don't think either of your lives are ever going to be the same again."

She sat rigidly, as if she was expecting to be knocked out of her chair. "Alright then," she said. "Let's get it out of the way."

"Well, Daphne, Harry entered the room with seven people. He then proceeded to, for want of a better word, _channel_ Yeshua. His eyes and body were glowing, and he proceeded to dress down the Wizengamot so badly that people were crying. _No one_ escaped the judgement that his eyes carried." He slumped down in his chair, a little, looking defeated. "Not even me."

"What do you mean, 'dress down'?," she asked.

"He told the Wizengamot in no uncertain terms, why there were there, what they had been doing, and how displeased Yeshua was with the recent performance of the Wizengamot. Even though the Death Eaters were out of the picture, he stated in no uncertain terms that he was going to reform the Wizengamot or they would be destroyed. And _then_, Daphne, he told the Wizengamot that they would no longer be responsible for judging people, and introduced the seven judges that would be our justice system from now on. The seven _non-magical_ judges."

Daphne's mouth dropped open. "Well, I'll say this about Harry. He sure does know how to keep a secret."

Cyrus nodded. "He told me, but only because I'm to be his guardian, and I am a member of the Wizengamot. I was one of only two people to know, excluding the judges and a few other people who had to deal with the logistics of preparing them for their job. I was not excepted from the judgement he represented, though. I was just as affected as the rest of them. And I find myself looking back on things that I have done in the past and regretting them terribly, Daphne."

She remained silent. It seemed like the appropriate thing to do.

"I should never have signed that marriage contract, Daphne. Or at the very least, I should not have told you about it so soon."

She flinched, but otherwise showed no emotion. "Why not, Father?", she asked.

Cyrus was quiet for a little while. He didn't know to say what he wanted. Daphne simply waited for an explanation. She was brought up to be a proper young lady, and she'd never seen her father quite like this. She didn't know what to make of it.

"You are Harry's betrothed, Daphne. Harry is now, openly, one of the most powerful wizards in the world, and without a doubt the most powerful in Great Britain. His power and authority exceeds that of Rowena Ravenclaw by several orders of magnitude, and she has been alive for over a thousand years. You have become somewhat close to him over the past few weeks. He, and you, are now going to be subjected to pressures that no one your age should experience. You, Daphne, are going to be famous as soon as the media figures out what your relationship to him is."

She frowned. "I don't think I like the sound of that."

"Neither do I, Daphne. Butt the entire situation has gone far out of all of our control. There is no way to prevent the inevitable now. And I have not trained you to handle all of that attention. I trained you to be a productive member of 'pureblood' society, the power and influence of which was drastically reduced this afternoon, and I suspect will be reduced further in the coming years. Yeshua does not seem like the kind of deity who will take much heed to those who object."

"You fear for my safety," she said softly.

"Oddly enough, no, I don't," Cyrus said. "I would if it were anyone but Harry, but I suspect if anyone tried to harm a hair on your head he would come at them with the full might of Yeshua and leave a smoking crater behind, all before you were even able to notice the attempt. No, I don't fear for your safety. You are probably one of the safest people in Britain at the moment. I fear for your heart, Daphne."

This is not what Daphne expected to hear, and the look of surprise was difficult to mask. "What do you mean, father?"

Cyrus took a deep breath and held it for a couple of seconds, then let it out again, like he was trying to keep a part of himself under control that no longer wanted to be under control.

"How do you feel about Harry, Daphne?", he asked, and then sat quietly and waited for an answer.

For her part, she was wholly unprepared for that question and a look of uneasiness flashed across her face. The silence grew palpable as she thought. What _did_ he mean to her?

Finally, she spoke quietly. "I have not yet seen the extent of his powers. You know more about that than I do. He has not given me a demonstration, and frankly, I'm afraid to ask him for one. I fear it might change my opinion of him."

She thought further.

"But as a person, I think he is mature for his age, even though there are times when he doesn't seem so. I think he is extremely loyal, and is not comfortable with the responsibilities he's been given. He's learned to delegate recently, but he puts himself under a lot of pressure to succeed. He seems to crave touch, even as he's scared of it. He doesn't know anything about family or matters of the heart, and can be remarkably insensitive at times. Much like you, father," she said neutrally.

A grin tugged at his lips. It was true.

"I think that's a very astute description of his character, Daphne, but that's not what I asked you. I asked how you _feel_ about him."

She thought further. "I don't like the fact that our futures were decided for us when we were born. I care about him. I could grow to love him." She blushed. "I feel safe with him."

"You need to talk to him, then, Daphne. Preferably as soon as you can. Because when the Prophet comes out tomorrow, whatever relationship you might have at the moment may be severely tested."

"How so?", she asked, looking concerned.

"How are famous people treated?", he asked.

She thought. "From what I have seen, most famous people have either fans or enemies. People who hate them for what they are famous for, or people who love them for what they are famous for. The ones who love them hang around them as much as they can, in order to get fame for themselves, and the ones who hate them tend to viciously attack them in any way they can get away with."

He nodded. "Just so, Daphne. But after today, who will know him for who he is, other than you and his other friends? As opposed to what he _does_?"

She thought. "No one. It will never be the same for him."

Cyrus nodded. "I don't think he will change because of the fame. He does not strike me as that kind of person, and besides, I suspect Yeshua would knock him down a peg or two if he did. I suspect that's already happened at least once. But It's very important that you not change either. No matter how powerful he is, Daphne, he is still an eleven year old boy and his heart will be easily broken. As could yours. And if he loses his friends, he'll have nothing left."

She frowned, deep in thought. She thought she understood what her father was trying to tell her. Finally her face steeled in resolution.

"I am too young to think about love, father. You know this. As I have said previously, I don't even have breasts yet." She blushed. "But I do care about him. That won't change. He needs his friends, and he needs friends who will fight for him. Do not worry about my heart, father. Worry about his. His is far more fragile than mine."

Cyrus said quietly, with a note of sadness, "I am worried about his heart, Daphne. More than you know." He then stood up and walked out of the room.

Daphne sat in her chair for a few minutes lost in thought, then went to find Harry. They needed to talk.

**Headmistress' Office, at around the same time**

Harry sat in front of Headmistress McGonagall. It was interesting to him how their relationship had changed. In just a few short weeks she had gone from an authority figure to an equal. Which was why he was puzzled that he was called into her office.

She pursed her lips. "Mr. Potter, word has made its way to me about your performance in the Wizengamot today. I understand that you were doing the job you were given, and far be it from me to second guess Yeshua, but I am getting owls and floo calls from many people who tell me that they are considering taking their children out of Hogwarts."

"Let me guess. Because I am here and they don't trust me not to harm their children."

The Headmistress nodded her head. Harry thought for a while.

"This puts me in a very uncomfortable position, Headmistress," he said quietly. "On the one hand, I understand their position. On the other hand, I am two of the Heirs of Hogwarts, and thus I have an unquestioned right to be in this building as I please. And I will need to stay here for several different reasons. You are aware that Lady Ravenclaw and Professor Flamel are ramping up efforts to return Hogwarts to its former glory as an institution of higher learning and research?"

"Yes, I am. I can't say that I approve of all of these adults being in a school full of children, but I understand the reasoning."

"The curriculum here and from the ministry is about to change radically, and Hogwarts will be one of the only schools in the world to teach the cutting edge of magic and technology. Anyone who takes their children from Hogwarts now would put their children at a significant disadvantage, particularly if their children are first years. Are you aware that right now, none of the first years need a wand? The restrictions as to how they play with magic come entirely from Professor Flamel. And without those restrictions, there would be carnage that might mean the Judges would have to come into play to sort the whole problem out."

"Is that a threat?", she asked, offended.

"Not at all," he said. "Simple fact. The type of magic that is about to be let loose on the world can only be controlled by the judgement of Yeshua - that is the main reason the judges were brought up in the first place. I'm very sure he would take the age and immaturity of an offender into account, but there would be no punishment that you could impose that you could enforce now."

She thought for a while. "Why did ye' have to open this bloody can o' worms?", she asked, her Scottish brogue coming through clearly.

He shrugged. "I didn't ask for this. This is the will of Yeshua. I have to trust that he knows what he's doing?"

She sighed. "Alright then, _champion_," she said, a little sarcasm on the last word. "What would _you_ recommend?"

He thought for a second. "This makes a decision I've been needing to figure out much easier. Headmistress, from here on I am no longer a student at Hogwarts."

"Mr Potter! What do you mean? You know they'll snap your wand and bind your - oh.", she said, deflated. "I understand now."

"Yes," he said, a small smile on his face. "This solves both of our problems. For me, I have all of the knowledge and skill of a thirty-eight year old and the classes as they currently are are a waste of time for me. For you, you can say that I am no longer a student at the school and will be pursuing other interests. I will still be in the building, but apart from those that I currently consider friends, I will not seek out any students that I do not have a specific reason to seek out."

She thought. "I hate this, but it is the best solution."

"I do need some small concessions, however."

"And what are those, Mr. Potter?"

"I would like continuing access to the professors, specifically, lessons from professor Flamel. He is teaching in a way that my former self never experienced and I would like to keep up with his lessons. Also, I will not be _restricted_ in the castle in any way, I will simply voluntarily stay away from the students as much as possible. I'm sure you can figure out a way to word the announcements to the parents that is suitably vague as to be correct but a mite bit misleading."

She pursed her lips again. "Again, I don't like it, but it's the best option. How will you take your OWLs and NEWTS?"

"Headmistress," he responded cheekily, "If things go to plan, I will be helping to _write_ them."

She smiled. "I look forward to seeing what you all discover. Or rediscover."

"Honestly, Headmistress, I think it will be both. The non-magicals bring something to the table that the magical community has never had before. _Possibilities_. We've stuck with what we know and researched deeper into the nature of magic because we had no idea how the physical world worked. The non-magicals had no choice, so they delved into the _possibilities_ of the physical world, in ways we would never have conceived of. I am confident that once these two disciplines mesh, the explosion of innovation that comes out of this building will transform the world within years."

"You don't do anything by half, do you, Mr. Potter?"

"Afraid not, Headmistress. You may consider me a student no longer. However, I hope we can still work together on issues that mutually affect both of our efforts. I will attend tomorrow night's dinner and make the announcement in person. Given my current status in this society, it seems only fitting."

"I look forward to working with you, Mr. Potter."

"I'll be seeing you, Headmistress," Harry said, and walked out of the room. Problem solved. No more classes.

**Lady Ravenclaw's Office, a few days previous.**

Hermione knocked on Rowena's door, unable to contain herself. When she heard "enter", she opened the door and almost ran in, hopping up and down on her toes.

"Miss Granger!," Rowena said, "what's got you so excited?"

"Lady Ravenclaw Harry told me what you're doing and I really really really want to help and you know I've been bored in class because I'm also thirty eight and I couldn't stand to know that all that research is happening without me and -"

Rowena laughed. "Slow down, child," she said. "What's this again?"

Hermione took a deep breath. "Harry told me what you're starting up. I have all of the knowledge of a thirty-eight year old with several masteries and I'm bored to tears in my classes. I want in. Is there any way I can help? I really want to help. I really _need_ to help. Oh Merlin, Lady Ravenclaw, please!", she said, bouncing on her toes again.

Rowena gestured to a seat and Hermione sat down, still bouncing on the edge of it.

Rowena thought. "I understand your predicament. Hogwarts' current classes have nothing to offer you except for maybe Defence against the Dark Arts. But you are eleven and would benefit by being around children your own age as well. I'm not inclined to put you amongst a bunch of adults and never have you interacting with the students."

Hermione frowned.

"I will talk to the Headmistress, but here is what I am going to take to her. You will be excused from all classes except for DADA. We will put you in advanced placement one-on-one classes that we will create just for you. And it may very well be that those classes will be in our research area. With scientists. And research. And books. But you will continue to stay in your dorm and have all other activities with the children your own age." Rowena smiled as Hermione could barely contain herself. "I can't make promises until I talk to the Headmistress, Miss Granger, but I don't think she will have any objections, though she may modify my requests a little. I will contact you as soon as I have spoken with her."

"Thank you thank you THANK YOU", Hermione said, squealing out the last two words. "Bye, Lady Ravenclaw!", she said, and ran out the door. Rowena heard a "SQUEEEEEEEEEE" fading off into the distance along with shoes clomping very fast, and smiled to herself. Hermione would be a great asset.

**Room of Requirement, after both Harry's and Daphne's talks.**

Daphne knocked on where the door to the Room would be, and in a short while, it opened. Harry was standing there, looking deep in thought. He absently invited Daphne in. The room was in Luna configuration #1, and Daphne particularly liked this configuration. They both sat down in the clearing, and neither spoke. Daphne scooted up to his side and put her arms around him.

He sighed, staring straight ahead. "Daphne, everything has changed today, and I had very little say in it. The fallout from today hasn't even started yet, and already the dominoes are falling."

She looked puzzled. "Dominoes?"

"Sometimes non-magical people stack small rectangular object in a line so that when you tip the first, it will knock the next one over, in a chain until all of the dominoes have fallen. Some of their displays can get quite involved, and sometimes they even use larger things. Like bricks. It's a form of entertainment and a way to pass the time."

She nodded. "I understand now. Things are set in motion that are out of your control."

"Exactly. It barely took a couple of hours before people were sending owls to the Headmistress, threatening to take their children out of school."

Daphne gasped, shocked. "Really? That fast?"

"I suspect as soon as they could get home and attach the letter to their owl."

"What will you do?"

"The only thing I could. I withdrew from the school."

Daphne tensed. He could feel her conflicting emotions. He turned to look at her. "I will still be in the building, Daphne. I specifically told the Headmistress that I would not cut contact with my friends. But I did have to tell her that I would voluntarily avoid the other students and only seek out those that I had a reason to seek out."

She sighed with relief. "You're not leaving the school. Just the school part of the school." She frowned. "I don't know how to put that."

"I understand what you're saying, Daphne, and that's correct. I won't be at breakfast tomorrow. And I'll be announcing my withdrawal in the Great Hall tomorrow evening. Could you tell our friends to see me before dinner, please? I'll let them know then."

She nodded. "You can't rely only on your authority from Yeshua. How will you learn magic?"

He pointed at himself, and chuckled darkly. "Thirty-eight, remember? I still have that knowledge. Every class but Flamel's is incredibly boring."

She nodded, and shifted so she was snuggled into his side, her head on his shoulder. "How do you feel about that?", she asked. Her breath tickled his ear. He shivered with something he couldn't quite identify. It was pleasant but very foreign to him.

He put an arm around her back and squeezed her closer. "I don't like it, honestly. I don't like the position I've been put in. None of what I currently am is anything I had any control over whatsoever. I lost my parents, I got put with my abusive relatives, I got invaded by the soul of my older self from another timeline, and then I was made the Champion of Yeshua, with all that entails. I asked for none of it. I wanted none of it. But here I am," he said.

"But you have the contract with me," she said.

He smiled. "I didn't like that either, at first," he said. "It's another decision that was made for me." He sat quietly for a bit. "But honestly, I don't really regret any of it."

"What do you mean?"

"If it hadn't been for the decisions made for me in the past, I wouldn't be what I am today. I wouldn't be in the utterly unique position to literally change the world. As Yeshua said, sometimes you have to have some shite to grow a flower."

She gasped. "He swears?"

He put a finger to his lips. "Ssssh. That's our secret. He doesn't do it often, but he says that sometimes it's the only way to express certain things. I think I agree, though people who do it too often reduce the impact. If you only swear when it's needed, people think you're serious."

He paused again. "And I wouldn't have you."

She couldn't help it - her heart fluttered and she blushed. "What do you mean?"

"If it hadn't been for the marriage contract, you might not even know I exist. We wouldn't be sitting in this beautiful room cuddling right now. I wouldn't have you."

She smiled and squeezed him tighter. "Keep saying those kinds of things to me, Mr. Potter, and I'll be yours, contract or no."

He smiled. "Not now, though."

She agreed, "Not now. Though I will be sure to let you know when I am a… handful."

It was his turn to blush. "I'm sure I'll notice long before you tell me."

Now it was her turn to blush. "You look at me that way?"

He shook his head. "Not yet. Neither of us are much to look at in that way right now. But I see who you are. You are beautiful even now. And I can't imagine I won't look at you that way. When it's time."

She snuggled deeper. "When it's time.", she repeated.

"You know," he said, "You need to thank Luna."

"Why?", she asked.

"She was my cuddle teacher. One day I was sitting in here, and she just crawled in my lap and told me I needed to learn to cuddle."

"She's a very good teacher."

"She is. She has a very open heart. I hope she never loses it."

Daphne frowned. "You need to introduce me to her."

He slapped his forehead with his free hand. "That's right. I keep forgetting."

She smiled. "When it's time. Harry?"

"What?", he asked.

She let go of him and crawled up on his lap, and put her head against his chest. "If Luna is going to teach you how to cuddle, I want _all_ the benefits," she said, and sighed happily.

Harry honestly didn't know why, but Daphne felt a lot different than Luna. She smelled different for one thing, like coconut and vanilla. She was just a little heavier. But there was something there that wasn't there with Luna, as lively and open-hearted as she was. He sighed and unconsciously stroked her hair.

Her breathing became slow and more regular. "Harry?", she said sleepily.

"Yes?"

"You're going to be famous tomorrow, much more than you are now. Maybe around the world. I don't want to lose you to your fame."

Harry continued stroking her hair, and he could feel her starting to fall asleep in his lap.

"You don't need to worry about that, Daphne," he said, his voice rumbling through her head comfortingly. "You can't lose me to something I never wanted in the first place."

"I feel safe with you, Harry," she murmured. And at that, she started to snore quietly. Harry conjured up something to rest his back against, and did not move her until it was time for curfew. And even then, he carried her back to her dorm and put her to bed. She murmured, much like Luna did, and started snoring again. Her dorm-mates were looking at him questioningly, as boys usually didn't enter the girls' dorm. Thankfully, they were all modest.

He smiled and put a finger to his lips. "Let her sleep," he whispered. And then he walked out the door.

Daphne had no idea the interrogation she was going to get from her dorm-mates in the morning.

A/N: This is a short chapter. The story arc is winding down, and it will only be a few more chapters, at most, until this book ends. After it does, and after I have taken a break, I will be planning a sequel, and I'm pretty sure that it will be H/DG.

Please keep in mind that they are both eleven, and I am trying to keep any intimacy to the level that two eleven year olds would. I think what I have written here is about the extent of what I will depict of them, because I'm probably pushing it just a bit as it is. I am aiming for sweet, not squicky. As they grow older, they might explore a little more than is appropriate at this point, but that's several years away, and I'm pretty sure Harry won't let it get out of hand until they're married. He has Yeshua, who has some cold water to throw if needed.

But that doesn't mean that love isn't growing. I think it is. Maybe it's better if the love develops before the hormones do. Maybe that makes many things easier. I don't know, I'm too old to think of these things now.

There are a few more scenes that I want to write, because there is still a bit more fallout from the Wizengamot to deal with, but everything is set in motion now. There's not too much more to tell in this particular story. Though in the saga, the story is still just starting to unfold.


	13. Before Everything Was, I Am

**Great Hall, The Next Morning**

The "Golden Four" were sitting today at the Ravenclaw table. Hermione seemed extremely happy about something, but she was keeping mum about what. Daphne was very pensive.

"Look," she whispered fervently. "I talked to Harry last night. Be prepared for anything at all today. And please go see him before dinner. This is really important."

"What's going on?", Kamiko asked.

"Yeah," said John. "Where's Harry?"

"I can't tell you right now. But if you get the Prophet or see one lying around, be sure to read it."

At that moment, many owls came in with letters and newspapers, many more than usual. It seemed that almost every child whose parents were keeping up at all with the Wizard World had sent their child a letter. As they read the prophet and the letters from their parents, pandemonium erupted. Some children ran out of the room to write a reply, while others sat quietly, staring at their food. Finally one of the seventh years yelled, "Where's Potter? Our parents are threatening to take us out of school and it's all his fault!"

"Yeah, where is he?"

"Yeshua? What's all that about anyway? What gave him the right?"

Draco wasn't joining in, though. He was sitting thoughtfully. The Malfoys always chose the winning side, and it was very clear now who the winning side would be. It was inevitable. He would have to find Harry as soon as possible.

As the pandemonium reached a fever pitch, the Headmistress stood up and cast "sonorus".

"SILENCE", she yelled. The room began to calm down. She waited for a moment for the hubbub to wind down, and then she spoke again.

"That's better. Regarding Mr. Potter, there will be an announcement tonight. Rest assured that I am communicating with all of your parents, there is no need for panic. Nothing changes in this school for now. Please continue going to your classes and stay calm, for the love o'..." Looking embarrassed, she cast "quietus" and sat back down. The hubbub rose a little again, but not nearly as badly.

Daphne looked at her friends meaningfully. "That's why.", she said quietly. "He will explain everything, it's not my place. But I spoke with him last night. He is fine. He just needs to speak with you."

They nodded and resumed eating their food. Hermione still looked very happy, but it was a little muted. Finally, she went over and found a discarded Prophet. Then she read it.

Her eyes opened wide. "He did it," she said. "He really did it."

"Did what?", Kamiko asked. Hermione handed her the paper.

Kamiko's eyes widened as well. "Nyuusu wa totemo bikkuri desu yo", she breathed. Then she looked up embarrassingly. "I mean, that news is very surprising. But it seems like something he would do."

John read over her shoulder. "Well, spank my ass and call me Charlie," he said.

They all looked at him.

"What?", he said, defensively.

"Is that how they express surprise in Texas?", Kamiko said.

"Sometimes," he said, embarrassedly. "It's not the most polite way, though."

"Aho yo", she said under her breath, but there was a look of affection on her face.

"What does that mean?"

She blushed. "Nothing."

He decided to drop it.

Hermione sighed. "Way to stir up the hornet's nest, Harry."

Daphne smiled. "You know what, Hermione? This may surprise you, but I think he has it completely under control. With Yeshua's help."

Hermione asked, "Have you ever met Yeshua?"

Daphne frowned. "I don't think so. But if he's anything like Harry, I think I would like him."

Hermione smiled widely. "He is," she breathed. "He is."

The rest of their breakfast was spent silently, trying to keep a low profile. The atmosphere in the room was very tense.

**Great Hall, That Evening**

That evening, there was a surprise. Harry was there, but he had been offered a seat at the staff table. He was chatting pleasantly with the Headmistress on one side and Nick on the other. He was surprised to find that they didn't have any different fare than the students, but they did need to ask the table for it, because there wasn't as much room for the food as on the large student tables. He was getting a lot of very venomous looks from the room, but also some rather starstruck looks. He didn't know what to make of it, but he decided to ignore it. No one could use their wand, and he'd know if anyone tried something otherwise.

Finally the end of the meal came, and the Headmistress stood up. "Now that we are done, Mr. Potter has a few words to say. Mr. Potter," she said, and waved her arm.

He stood up and amplified his voice.

"I'm sure by now you've read the prophet, been contacted by your parents, initiated fruitless plots for revenge that will never come to fruition, or planned out our marriage already."

One girl at the Slytherin table dropped her fork and the room giggled.

"What you have read in the Prophet is true, and in light of that, there have been many request to remove students from school, of which I'm sure many of you are aware. After some consideration, I have decided that the best course of action for me to take is to withdraw from the school. As of now, I am no longer a student at the Hogwarts' School of Witchcraft and Wizardry."

There was a collective gasp, and a rumble that took a minute or so to die down. He waited patiently.

"You may make your parents aware of this fact, and I know for a fact that the Headmistress will do so as well. It may not prevent all of your parents from removing you, but I intend on taking myself out of the equation.

"However, I am two of the heirs of Hogwarts", there was another gasp as this also was not common knowledge, "and I have no intention of leaving this castle for good. I have business here that is my responsibility to take care of, and I will be coming here at times to work on those other projects. I have assured our Headmistress that I will be avoiding interacting with any students I am not already familiar with unless there is a legitimate need for me to speak with them. However," he said, "If you wish to speak with me, there's little I can do to stop you. It is entirely your choice. If you can find me, that is." He chuckled.

"I wish you all the best in your education, and I can tell you for a fact that a renaissance is coming, the likes of which has never been seen in this world. And you are here for its beginning." He smiled. "After all, it's not really goodbye, is it, really?"

He cleared his throat and sat down. The room was entirely silent.

The Headmistress stood up. "I will be speaking to your parents to let them know the pertinent facts. Mr. Potter will no longer be attending classes or sharing dorms with you. However, as he said, you may see him in the hall. He has agreed not to initiate contact with students that he does not already have a pre-existing relationship with, but as he also said, if you wish to talk to him, well, he's not a bad bloke, after all."

The room giggled, just a little.

"Anyway, off to bed with you," she said. The hall was abuzz as the students left. Harry stayed behind until they had all gone off to bed, and then he turned and looked at the Headmistress.

"I'll not be eating in this hall again unless invited. Thank you for inviting me to the staff table for this evening. I will be off."

And he walked out the door, feeling very bittersweet about the whole situation. He had new quarters to move into.

**Rowena's office, that evening**

Harry came by to see Rowena, now that he had a little time to spare, and to see how she and Nick were doing with their joint venture. She looked happier than he'd ever seen her.

"Harry," she said, "You were right. You were so right. The non-magical engineers don't understand at all how magic works, and they are very anxious to figure it out, but they've already started approaching the problem in ways we would never have dreamed! They tell us what equipment they need, and the magical researchers from the Ministry and they get together, and often the researchers have found a solution that doesn't even need electricity. But on the other side of the coin, they've figured out how to use magic to generate electricity, and lots of it too. It doesn't even use moving parts. We can patent these ideas and render their polluting power plants obsolete!"

Harry smiled at her enthusiasm. "What will we do when the non-magical world tries to start figuring out how these products work?"

She laughed. "That's the beauty of it! We don't _have _to tell them about magic. We just say it's something our researchers discovered, and pretty soon the whole world will be trying to figure out how it works! And in the meantime, we can keep coming up with more and more products as we figure out all the knowledge we've lost. We'll have funding for _centuries_!" She was almost bouncing. "The statute of secrecy doesn't even have to be broken. _They'll figure it out themselves_. And then, once they get to the point where they will see us as just different rather than threatening…"

Harry smiled. "Yeshua is wise," he said. "He knows what he's doing."

She nodded. "I believe that more than ever now."

"Have you figured out how much you need yet?"

She handed him a piece of paper with a figure on it. He whistled.

"But the strangest thing happened. Other ministries started offering money and other resources. We don't need to come up with that much after all. We'll just give them a share of any income we make from the inventions we come up with. Even a small share will be very helpful to some of the smaller countries involved."

"Oh, didn't I mention? I asked Yeshua to have them pay their fair share. He agreed."

She laughed. "Miracles do happen. Anyway, the amount we need from you is much less than that number"

"I'll put in a tenth of my wealth. Consider it an investment. Calculate the shares fairly based upon how much each entity has contributed, and draw up agreements. I think it'll work out fine."

She nodded. "I'm going to bed now. This is nearly a full time job. And it's so much fun too!"

He laughed. "I'm glad you're happy."

"And so is Hermione. She is such a hard worker! And I've never seen someone so enthusiastic about learning and discovery. She has some growing to do, but she'll go far," Rowena said.

Harry chuckled. "That's our Hermione," he said, and left.

**Camilla's quarters**

Camilla sighed happily as Luna snuggled up to her and fell asleep. She was so thankful that she had been given this opportunity. Even though her life was a shambles in every other way, she was a very accomplished theoretical physicist, and the avenues of knowledge she was being offered would change the world irrevocably, once they figured out how it all worked.

But that didn't matter, she thought, as the young girl murmured to herself. Camille held her tighter. Luna wasn't her daughter. No one could bring back her daughter. But she had grown to love Luna no less than she had her own daughter, and the hole in her heart left by the loss of her family was slowly starting to heal. Luna had been trying to get her to meet her father, but she hadn't had a chance to leave the castle yet.

Luna was such a free spirit, she was very interested in seeing what her father was like. Luna told her that his wife had died as well a year ago, and that he was very lonely. She had not promised Luna anything, but in her heart of hearts, she thought that if her father was anything like Luna, that there was a real chance she could regain what she lost, at least by starting over.

She smiled and kissed the top of Luna's forehead, and she shifted around and started breathing slowly again. Her heart wasn't quite full, but it was healing. Jesus knew what he was doing.

**The Room of Requirement**

Harry called a house elf, and one came to him.

"Can Flippy help you?", she asked nervously.

Harry smiled. "There's something I've been meaning to do for some time, Flippy. You'll come to no harm, but I need to know." His voice changed to one of command. "House Elf, tell me your secrets."

She was about to open her mouth when she felt something _leave_ her, and Harry sat silently for a few minutes. Flippy was starting to get a little uncomfortable. "Harry Potter Sir, Can Flippy help you?", she asked.

He nodded. "I know what you are now."

Flippy lowered her head. "You know the secrets of the house elves", she said sadly.

"I do", she said. "But what I don't understand is why you are okay with this."

Flippy shook her head sadly. "A long time ago, we came out of the arches too. We did not know how to get home. So we decided to work with humans. We would serve them, and in return, they would give us food, shelter, and magic. But as we evolved together, the magic evolved too. We became addicted to their magic. So we bond with humans to get their magic, and in return we are bonded to them as servants."

He shook his head sadly. "That works out pretty well for you when your masters are good."

She nodded. "And really badly when they're not."

Harry thought for a moment. He consulted Yeshua. Finally he spoke.

"In the name of Yeshua, I declare that all House Elves are no longer dependent upon the magic of humans. Those who wish to stay with their masters may. Those who wish to leave, may. Those who wish to return to their ancestral home, may. It is decreed."

Flippy felt something change inside her, and she was overjoyed. "You would do that for us?"

"How you've been treated is an injustice, and it has just been fixed. If a human cannot treat a house elf decently, they have no rights to the services of a house elf. But if they can, I see no reason why a house elf must leave. You may chose who you wish to serve now, or even if. Spread the word amongst your kind. Any house elf who wishes to return to where they were before they went through the arches must say, with intent, 'In the name of Yeshua, I wish to return to my ancestral home.' If there is no intent, the words will mean nothing."

Flippy smiled, a happier smile than he'd ever seen on a house elf. "I will stay with Hogwarts for now," she said. "They have treated me well. But perhaps we should approach the Headmistress about pay now."

He groaned. "She'll know that was me."

Flippy laughed. He'd never seen a house elf laugh. "We'll go easy on her, Harry. On behalf of all of my kind, thank you." And then she popped out.

**Room of Requirement, Heart of Hogwarts configuration**

Harry opened the door, and ushered Albus Dumbledore in. "This is the Heart of Hogwarts."

Dumbledore appeared to have aged greatly in the short time he was gone. He was now using a cane. It seemed that all he had to live for was gone, and he was not far away from the "next great adventure".

"That's all it is, Harry?", he asked disappointedly. "Just a room?"

"No," Harry said, and opened the door to the actual heart. Dumbledore walked through the door, his cane clanking on the catwalk, and sighed.

Harry gave him the standard tour guide spiel, and also showed him the "computer room", where he explained exactly how much ward capacity the school had available to protect itself.

Finally Dumbledore spoke. "The wards now are far stronger than they were. I and all of the headmasters before me kept them weak, because we thought access to the school was more important than the safety of the school. I was so wrong about so many things, Harry, and I made many mistakes, both as Headmaster and in all of my other roles. I thought I was the greatest wizard to be alive. And maybe that was true for a while. But I knew nothing, Harry. Nothing. The people who created this room were far, far more advanced than any of us."

Harry grinned. "We rediscovered the knowledge. All of it. It will take us decades to even go through all of what they left for us."

Dumbledore's mouth dropped open. "Really, Harry? You really rediscovered it?"

"Yes, Albus. And we're ramping up a foundation right now to figure out how to release it to the world."

Dumbledore's lip quivered and his eyes moistened. A single tear trickled down his face, and his expression was one of loss, regret, and shame. He then turned around, and slowly clanked his way out of the room. He stopped before he got to the door and turned around.

"Harry, you locking me out of the Hogwarts wards was the best thing you could have done for the world. I never even knew what I didn't know, and I was arrogant and prideful. I am sorry."

"Allbus, did you read the newspaper the other day?"

"No, Harry. I've been enjoying my dotage in my cottage, and have not been worrying about the things that have been happening in the world. I have left all that behind me, Harry. There is no use dwelling on what was, not this late in my life."

"I will set up a meeting with you and Cyrus Greengrass, Albus. There are some things you should know before you die. The Wizengamot is no longer the same. But the why should come from someone else."

"I understand, Harry. I know Cyrus. He is a decent man. I will meet with him as soon as I can."

"Ask him to tell you what happened in the last Wizengamot meeting."

Dumbledore smiled. "I will do so. Thank you for humoring an old man, Harry. I have always wished to see the Heart of Hogwarts and was never given the opportunity I will see myself out." He slowly hobbled through the door and it closed.

Yeshua appeared next to Harry.

Harry watched the door as he heard Dumbledore slowly clanking away into the distance. "Will he be alright, Yeshua?"

Yeshua smiled. "I think he will. He is truly remorseful."

"If he dies now, how would you judge him?"

Yeshua thought for a moment. "The honest truth, Harry, is that I don't know. I never know how I'm going to judge someone until they die, for much can change even in the few moments before death."

Harry sighed. "For all he did to me and put me through, I kinda care about the old coot."

Yeshua laughed. "How would _you_ want to judge him right now?"

Harry thought. "He is a man who has made many bad decisions in his life. He was, as he said arrogant and prideful and it took literally an act of God to get him to change his ways. But now, he is a sad, tired, old man, who understands what he did with his life, and he is full of remorse and regret. I would judge him leniently, Yeshua. He's already enduring his justice."

"I'll take your wishes into account, Harry, when I judge him."

"Why, Yeshua? I'm just a human. I'm not you."

"No, you're not, Harry. But if you ask me to be lenient on someone who has wronged you, what kind of hypocrite would I be if I didn't listen to you?"

"You take peoples' wishes into account on how you deal with people?"

"If their wishes are just and righteous, Harry, yes. Always. You speak to me in person. But billions of others speak to me in many different ways, and in many different traditions. I listen to all of them. And sometimes I let them change my mind. My power is made perfect in weakness, Harry. Even _my_ weakness."

"You aren't weak, Yeshua. You are the king of the Universe"

"I am. I am God. I deserve worship. But I am, instead, a servant, by choice, and that is what makes me worthy of worship. If I had defended myself at all during the ritual that I had to endure, it would all have unraveled. It had to be a _true_ sacrifice. And I sacrifice of myself all the time so that I can be a just king. The same rules apply to me, Harry. Remember that. Everything I ask you to be, I _must_ be. Everything I ask you to be, _I am._"

The last words were delivered with a peculiar emphasis that Harry did not grasp.

"_I am_, Harry Before everything was, _I am_.", Yeshua said, and he faded out.

Harry stared at the door as those two words rang through his head. _I am_. And he smiled to himself.

"You are," he whispered. "And thank you for that."

And he walked out the door.

A/N: Including this A/N, this should bring the book to eighty thousand words, and I think it's time to end this book. All the loose ends I wanted to tie up are tied up, and all the scenes I wanted to write are written. This has been a hard story to write for many reasons. Towards the end, I wasn't even sure if anyone was reading. But a few favorites and follows and reviews floated through, and they were enough to motivate me to finish.

This is a story I've wanted to tell for a long time, but I was never sure what form it would take. A hundred and fifty thousand or so words later, now I know. Even if I stopped here, I think I've told the important part of the story and I am reasonably proud of what I've written. Yes, I'm sure I've made a few mistakes here and there, I am a programmer, not a writer, but it's good enough.

I plan for there to be a sequel, but I will not write it until the muse strikes again. It will probably be set a few years later, when everything that is now set into motion is coming to fruition. It will likely be H/DG, and will probably be very close to the time where they are to choose whether to go through with the contract or not. I hate the idea of writing a wedding, but I backed myself into that corner, so I guess I have to swallow my own medicine. That's one reason why a sequel may be a while in coming. I absolutely _dread_ that.

To those who have read both stories to the end, I thank you sincerely. For those who read both stories to the end and hated it, why did you? And for those who didn't get this far, well, you'll never read this anyway. But for those who have, I hope it got across what I wanted. I hope it helped you, even if in a very small way. But even if it didn't, I hope it was at least a good story. Till next time, follow me if you want to know when the sequel starts.

Oh, and "aho yo" means "you're a dumbass!"


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